A Chance Meeting
by sirimity16
Summary: First impressions mean everything, or do they. The first time they meet, their eyes lock onto each other and its magic...for about 10 seconds, then life starts up again and they end up on the wrong foot of each other. It's not until a couple of years later that the spark is reignited the way it should have. AU/AH Multi-chapter, Multi-character Klaus, Caroline, Bonnie, Katherine
1. Prologue

**Ok, so this is my first fanfic ever, so be kind. I am by no means a writer, so bare with me. First off, although I like writing this, I've actually held onto this for almost 2 years! I kept going back and fort because honestly, the shows kinda destroyed my love of the characters. I don't watch either of them anymore but I know a few names and basics for a couple of the new permanent cast that I am including. As I stated before, I'm not a writer in anyway, but I get creative at times and use different outlets; this is one of them. I don't know if I'll write any other fic besides this but who knows.**

 **A few things, I have basic plot points and an ending in mind, but again who knows, I may completely change it. This follows a lot of different characters, but it is mainly Klaroline (and although it is Klaroline centric, they don't actually meet for a while... They have their own journeys beforehand). There is no Haley (besides maybe a snide jab down the road), nor is there a Camille (sorry but never jumped onto the Caroline 2.0 bandwagon), also barely any Elena (I prefer Katherine :D ). This spans a lot of years so there are gonna be a few fast forward moments/scenes. I'm still not sure how I'll be spacing the chapters and I'm still filling in gaps, so I may not post the next chapter for a while, but I did want to at least put up the starting point.**

 **Alright, without further ado, my story….**

 **PS. I appreciate criticism but what I won't tolerate is just plain mean comments, so please be aware that I do pay attention. Let me know what you think, Thanks!**

Edit: So that people are aware, Klaus and Caroline's first interaction is in what I've labeled as Chapter 7. This is the prologue not Chapter 1.

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 _ **Mystic Falls High**_

 _Its graduation day and Caroline couldn't be more ecstatic. They'll all officially be entering the adult world and will be able to create the lives they've always dreamed of. She's standing alone contemplating the future that's ahead. Her blonde curls sway in the light breeze as she adjusts her cap so it doesn't mess up the hard work it took to get everything perfect._

 _She sends out a group text to the girls to meet behind the bleachers before they have to line up. Elena and Katherine show up first. They might be twins and they may have looked identical when they were kids, but now they're like night and day. Elena is sunshine, always smiling and friendly towards everyone while Kat is darkness, always looking for trouble and only close to those few she's let in and learned to trust. But, they're both her best friends and fill different roles in her life._

 _Elena glides up to Caroline and hugs her; her pin straight hair flowing around her. "What's up Care?" She pulls back and smiles._

 _Caroline returns the smile. "Let's wait for Bonnie." Caroline has an announcement for them, as well as a question. They sit down on one of the benches to wait._

 _Kat starts to get restless; she wants this day to be over. She keeps fidgeting and pulling on her gown. "God I hate this thing. It's itchy! I can't wait till I'm out of this stupid gown and we can go celebrate the way we should." She smirks, thinking of the partying she has planned for them. She takes off her cap, running her hand through her curly locks. She was ready to party and be done with high school since the first day they even started._

 _"Hey, guys!" Bonnie comes running up to them, the sun making her caramel skin shimmer, "sorry I took so long. Grams kept wanting to take pictures. I don't know what she's gonna do when I actually get up on stage to get the diploma." They all laughed._

 _"At least you don't have to give a speech. Everyone expects me to say something amazing. I think my choices are going to surprise them later, like they did my mom, dad and Matt this morning." Caroline looked apprehensively at her best friends. She was sure she was doing the right thing for herself but for some silly reason she was worried about how her friends would react._

 _Elena furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?" she asked._

 _Caroline grabbed a strand of hair and started twirling it nervously. "Imskippingcollege….." she blurted. She ducted her head and waited for the barrage of questions._

 _Elena's eyes widened. Kat smirked and looked impressed while Bonnie just seemed confused._

 _"Why?" Bonnie asked. She twirled her cap in her hands waiting to hear what Caroline had to say. It's not like she could really judge her friend; she really was just curious. This wasn't like Caroline at all._

 _"I want to experience the real world before I jump into another 4 years of school. That's all I've ever done and I want to experience something else. I literally have never gone beyond Mystic Falls and I don't want to continue down that path." Caroline felt so guilty when she told Liz. She was this years Valedictorian and yet she was choosing to travel instead of going to any university she wants and making her mom proud. As much as she didn't want to be selfish, this was her first opportunity to finally do something for herself and she was going to follow through. She also didn't want to turn into her mom and be stuck in this small time life forever. Matt understood – then again he chose not to go to school either, but for a different reason. Her dad was excited, his little girl was growing up and he always thought her life was meant for something bigger. "It's not like I'm never going to go, I just want to skip a year. So instead I'm gonna backpack across South America." She smiled and looked up at the girls excitedly._

 _Kat snickered. "You, backpack across South America? Miss Head Cheerleader? Miss Miss Mystic? Oh this is going to be epic." Kat knew she was being bitchy but she was a little jealous. This was the type of thing she usually did, but her parents had made it clear; if she didn't go to college, then no trust fund._

 _"Hey! I can do it!" Caroline scrunched her face and pouted. She raised her chin, puffed out her chest and folded her arms to try to make herself look tough._

 _Bonnie shook her head and smiled. "That sounds awesome Care; I wish I could do that." She admired the fact that Caroline was taking chances._

 _Elena stared at her friends. "But we've been talking about going to the same school since we were kids. What are we supposed to do? Wait for you?" They had made plans; it wasn't fair that Caroline decided she wanted to go off on her own._

 _"Well that's kinda why I asked to see you guys. I was wondering if any of you would like to join me?" She asked hopefully, "Matt insisted on coming." Caroline looked at Elena trying to convince her. "You know how protective he tries to be."_

 _Elena looked down at her hands and started fidgeting. Knowing that Matt was going to be there had instantly solidified Elena's choice. She had always felt safe and cared for with Matt, but at some point during this last year she had realized she wanted more. She wanted passion, and he couldn't give her that, he was just too nice for her._

 _Kat looked at her sister and could sense her unease so she jumped in and said, "We can't, as much as you know I'd love to. Our parents are paying for our tuition and a place of our own near Whitmore, if we screw up, then we don't get anything." She rolled her eyes. Caroline kept scrutinizing Elena's reaction, something was up with her and her brother but she wasn't sure what._

 _She turned to Bonnie with a puppy dog look and Bonnie laughed. "You know what, I'm in. I mean who's gonna stop me, my parents? They've never cared before; they're not even here for my graduation. I'm sure Grams will understand. She's always saying I need to see the real world and have as many new experiences as I can." Bonnie hugged Caroline with a huge grin on her face._

 _Caroline started bouncing on her heels, making her blonde curls bounce around her. "Yay! We'll leave in 2 months. I already have everything planned you just need to get stuff ready and packed for a week, nothing big just comfortable clothes, 'cause we're gonna be carrying everything. We're only carrying the essentials and live with what can be provided to us. If we do need anything my dad set up an account we can take money out of at any time. We're going to have so much fun!" Caroline stopped bouncing and looked at her friends. "You know, I can't believe it. We're actually all here. We made it." The girls smiled. Caroline turned to Bonnie, "Bonnie Bennett, are you crying?"_

 _"It's our last hoorah before our lives change." Bonnie said teary eyed._

 _"Aww. Group hug, guys." Caroline demanded._

 _Kat scrunched her face. "Uh, I don't do group hugs."_

 _Caroline rolled her eyes, "Oh get over yourself." She pulled all the girls in and they hugged._

 _They heard their teacher calling them to start lining up. It was time. They sat through a couple of speeches and then it was Caroline's turn. Her speech about life after High School was a hit, she got a standing ovation and she couldn't have been happier. The song that that year's class had chosen was a cliché but it fit. Graduation by Vitamin C started playing and each student's name started to be called. When Caroline's was called everyone could hear Matt, Liz, Bill and his partner Stephen cheering from the audience. Although she'd had her doubts she now knew she was heading down the right path for her life._

 _2 months later Caroline, Matt and Bonnie were saying goodbye to everyone they loved and to the only place they'd called home. This was the first time, but not the last, that they'd be leaving Mystic Falls. They were ready for the adventure ahead._

 _During the next 8 months they travelled all through South America. They would stay in one place for a month and then they would pick up everything and go to the next spot. Anything that they picked up along the way that they couldn't carry with them, they'd send home. Caroline and Bonnie had a hard time adjusting in the beginning but Caroline was determined to follow through. By the 3rd month, they were experts. They started out in Colombia and followed down the Pacific Coast until they got to Argentina, then they went through Uruguay to end in Brazil._

 _Both Caroline and Bonnie eventually found the career path they would look into as soon as they got home. For Caroline it was photography, she got some of the most amazing shots and knew what she wanted to study when she got back. Bonnie in turn took her photos and gave them a story, their story, then sent it back home. She eventually started a blog to recount their adventures whenever they had internet access. She wasn't sure what she could study for this but it would come to her sooner or later. For Matt it was different; although he was having fun, he also missed Elena. They would Skype as much as possible, which honestly wasn't a lot. He could sense something was going on with her but she kept saying she was fine. He wasn't really allowing himself to gain as much from this experience other than traveling because all he could focus on was her._

 _Back home Elena was finally enjoying her first year of college. A couple months in she ended up meeting new people and making many new friends. Caroline and Bonnie weren't there to hear and share everything in this experience so she felt a bit of resentment but she wasn't about to wallow about it for too long though, so she starts going out and partying with her new crowd. Eventually she meets Vaughn and starts to hang out with him. She tells herself they're just friends but she knows he has feelings for her._

 _Kat begins to question her sister, she may consider herself the wild one, but she doesn't toy with people's hearts, especially when said heart belongs to a friend. Kat insists Elena needs to tell Matt the truth and just break up with him, but Elena insists she still loves him. Kat warns her she's playing a dangerous game and when they come home it's going to blow up in her face. After Kat keeps pestering her about coming clean, Elena starts to distance herself from her twin. Matt would be coming home soon and she'd deal with it then. Since then Kat actually dives into her schoolwork for once. By the end of middle of the second semester it's clear she'll even make the Dean's list. But she's starting to miss her friends and can't wait for their return unlike Elena._

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 _ **London**_

 _Klaus had taken his younger siblings out to watch a movie to get his mind off of things. Mikael had been getting worse with his anger towards him and he couldn't understand why. He had just graduated with pretty good grades and was even accepted into the university Mikael had been pushing him towards. He needed out of the house so he'd asked Rebekah and Kol if they wanted to go see a movie and they jumped at the chance. Now they were back and sitting and waiting in the car. None of them really wanted to go inside, but Klaus knew they couldn't hide there forever, especially with Henrik inside. He sighed and got out of the car and the other two followed._

 _Klaus could hear Mikael screaming before he even entered the house. Bekah suddenly felt nervous and didn't want to go in anymore so she tried to get Klaus to take them shopping instead. She really didn't feel like witnessing another one of Mikael's fits of rage. Although Klaus didn't want to deal with it either, he could hear his mother crying trying to calm his rage, and he knew Henrik was somewhere upstairs hiding and probably hearing everything. Kol looked at Klaus and shrugged; he would follow his brother's lead no matter what._

 _He placed his key in the keyhole. "We can't leave Henrik alone, I promised." Klaus was very serious when it came to protecting his siblings. He turned the door's handle and they all walked in. Not even 5 seconds later and Mikael had him up against the wall by his throat screaming at him._

 _Rebekah's eyes went wide and she rushed to help Klaus, but Kol blocked her. He didn't want her to get hurt in the process. "Let him go father!" Rebekah screamed while her mother sobbed but said nothing._

 _Mikael had one of his hands wrapped around Klaus' neck. "It's your fault boy! I will not have a bastard living in my home!" Mikael screeched at the top of his lungs._

 _Klaus didn't understand anything that was happening. His father had always been hard on him, even abusive at times, but this was different he could see it in his eyes. He kept trying to remove Mikael's hand to breath. Kol finally tried to pull Mikael off of Klaus but he wasn't nearly strong enough. If Klaus didn't do something soon Mikael would kill him, so he swung at the only man he had called father. Mikael let go and staggered back, Klaus fell to his knees gulping for air. Kol bent down next to him to make sure he was alright._

 _"Are you bloody mad, father!" Klaus yelled. He was rubbing his neck trying to soothe his throat._

 _Mikael grabbed Klaus by the back of his neck and pulled him up close to his face. He looked madly at him and spoke so clearly and calmly, "You are no son of mine and I want you out." Mikael screaming was more of a comfort than hearing him this eerily calm._

 _"Mikael, please, leave Niklaus be. He knows nothing of this." Esther said meekly._

 _Kol was standing next to Rebekah in case Mikael redirected his anger on them. Usually Klaus would take the brunt of the beatings but he'd been at the end of Mikael's anger enough to want to keep Rebekah safe. He turned to his mother and wasn't sure if he should try and protect her too or let it be._

 _Mikael let go of Klaus and charged at Esther, "You will shut your bloody mouth if you plan on staying with me in this house." And to Klaus' shock, she did as he said. Mikael turned to Klaus again looking crazed. "I want you and everything that reminds me of you gone. From this point forward you will not receive anything from me or this family. Nobody cares about you boy!"_

 _Klaus was so angry and hurt that he was shaking. He held the tears back for as long as he could. He didn't want to appear weak in front of Mikael. He looked at his mother, sitting down now with her head in her hands, as she let Mikael treat him like trash for the last time. Out of anger he decided then and there, she was dead to him._

 _Rebekah looked at Klaus and walked around Kol towards Mikael. "Your wrong father, Nik has me and our brothers and we will not let this go on any further." Rebekah held her head high in defiance and Kol nodded his head in agreement. Klaus looked at Rebekah astonished; he thought she would stay with their mother. He thought they all would and he would be alone._

 _"So be it. When I return, I want you all out!" Mikael stormed out and a couple of minutes later they heard his car speed off._

 _Klaus couldn't hold his emotions in any longer and the tears fell from his eyes defiantly. Rebekah hugged him, but he just stood there watching his mother with so much pain inside him. She wouldn't even look at him._

 _"Nik let's get our things and go before that_ _arse_ _comes back. I'll call Elijah; Kol make sure Henrik gets himself packed." Rebekah started taking charge and rattled off commands._

 _At this, Esther's head shot up, "Henrik is staying here."_

 _Klaus sneered at Esther. "You're a nutter if you believe I'd ever leave my brother here with the likes of you two. If you try and stop us, I will bring hell upon you both." Klaus was done with his mother; he wanted nothing more to do with her._

 _When Elijah got the call, he immediately left work and came to help them. Esther tried to talk to him, explain the situation, but he would not hear her at this point. It didn't take them that long to pack since they mostly took clothes. That house was filled with evil memories and they didn't want to take anything that would remind them of their horrible life there. Little did they all know that Mikael would never return. When they packed the last of their things Rebekah pulled Klaus aside, she wanted to make sure he understood that she would stand with him._

 _She looked him straight in the eye. "I'm sorry she turned her back on you for him Nik. I will never do that."_

 _Klaus heard what she was saying but the damage his mother had caused was done._

 _Elijah and Kol heard Rebekah and went to stand next to them. "Nor will I." Elijah stated as he unbuttoned his suit and laid his hand to rest on Klaus' shoulder._

 _Rebekah looked to her brothers and extended her hands. "We stick together as one. Always and forever."_

 _Elijah took her hand first and extended his other hand at Klaus while Kol grabbed Rebekah's other hand and waited for Klaus to join._

 _"Yes, dear brother. We stick together as one." Kol gave Klaus a look that said - trust us._

 _Klaus sighed and reached for Elijah and Kol's hands then looked at the car where Henrik was reading one of his comic books. He turned back to face them. "Always and forever." It was a promise._

 _They stood there; forming a circle for a few seconds then decided it was best to leave. They didn't want to stay too long, incase Mikael arrived and decided he wanted to go off on Klaus again._

 _Later on they found out that because Mikael had been drinking so much, in his rage he hadn't been paying attention as he sped along the road. At some point he ended up crashing into another car and died on impact._

 _When the police finally came to see Esther, she realized what she had done and that she would now be alone in her grief. None of her children where there to bury their father, and besides her, the only other people in attendance didn't truly know Mikael. When the will was read, everything had been left to her, but she didn't feel like it belonged to her alone._

 _Her children had suffered enough at the hands of Mikael and she thought giving them what was rightfully theirs would be the first step in their forgiveness. With the estates, she sold most of them and placed one in Henrik's name. She knew the others would not take it. Mikael had come from old money and he was a tycoon with his business, so when it came to the monetary assets he left behind; it would last them all two lifetimes without ever having to lift a finger. Thus, Esther did what she thought was best and split it between her and her children equally._

 _Klaus wanted nothing that came from his mother or Mikael, but after enough debates with Elijah and Rebekah, he realized he could use some of it to further his art career until it took off and he didn't need it anymore. He was only 18 and didn't have much work experience._

 _They had been living in Elijah's one bedroom flat, but as soon as the money came in, they bought a house. Later on Klaus bought himself a loft so he could paint in peace. He slept there whenever he was in one of his bad moods and when it became too much to be around his family. He tried not to use Mikael's money as much as possible, so he sold his art for as much as he could, which was very little at first._

 _As much as he loved his family, finding out that he was not Mikael's son had damaged him mentally and emotionally. He saw himself as an outcast and distanced himself when he would remember. His siblings tried to comfort him but it would always end up making things worse. He wished he could separate Mikael from his siblings but whenever they tried to comfort him all he heard was Mikael's voice booming over theirs making him feel worthless._


	2. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Since I actually got a couple of follows and favs (that makes me happy ^_^) I wanted to gift you the next chapter. Let me know what you guys think. Also, I love art - I sketch and paint myself - but I don't want to even pretend to know what a character like Klaus would actually create. So I'm going to stick more to the colors and what the images represent to whoever is looking at it.**

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Caroline, Matt and Bonnie finally came home to a big welcome party awaiting them at The Grill. When they arrived, Liz just couldn't stop hugging each of them and Bill just watched them with tears in his eyes and Stephen at his side Liz and Bill had been separated for years now but they were still friends. And although Liz was never really an affectionate person, she had missed her kids much more then she thought she would.

"Mom, we're fine, can you please let go. You're smothering us." Matt jokes trying to pull his mother off of him.

"I'm just so glad your back." Liz cries and lets them go.

Caroline is smiling at her. "We missed you too mom."

Katherine barges through the doors heading straight for Caroline and Bonnie. "I'm here, now the real party can start!" The girls squeal and hug each other fiercely. Kat really missed them and had felt like she was missing a part of herself.

Matt looks behind her and then frowns. "Where's Elena? Didn't she come with you?"

An awkward silence falls between them and Kat turns towards Matt and looks down guiltily. "Matt we need to talk, alone. Come outside with me?" Matt slowly nods and follows her through the door.

"I wonder what that's all about." Bonnie raises an eyebrow and looks at Caroline.

"I don't know but I have a bad feeling it's something that's going to hurt my brother." Caroline squints her eyes at the door as if that would magically let her see and hear what they were saying. She huffs and gives up, turning to greet the rest of her friends. She'll find out soon anyways, she always does.

Outside Katherine is pacing. She doesn't know how to let Matt down, this shouldn't even come from her, and she's never going to forgive Elena for this.

Matt's eyes kept following her as she walks. "Kat just say what you need to say." Matt was getting more anxious watching her pace as each minute passed.

Kat stops and looks directly at him, "Elena is with some other guy...she's been going out with him for the past 2 months. I told her to break up with you, but she refused. She said they were just friends, but I know it's more. She just doesn't want to admit it; to herself, me or you. When I told her you'd be back today and that there was going to be a welcome home party, she told me to cover for her. I'm not doing that for her. You're a good guy and Caroline's brother; you deserve more. I'm so sorry; she's out with him right now. I don't know where, we haven't really been talking as much for a while now. She's really changed since you guys left."

Matt was leaning on a handrail holding his chest. It felt like his heart had been ripped out. He wanted to cry but he couldn't do it in front of Kat, she reminded him too much like Elena. "Can you please get Caroline for me?"

"Yeah, sure." She said sadly and headed for the entrance. He looked so broken, she wanted to hug him but she knew she wasn't the person he needed right now.

A few minutes later Caroline comes out and heads towards Matt. "Kat said you wanted to se-" she looks up and sees Matt, who is now kneeling on the ground quietly sobbing, and she runs to him. She wraps her hands around her big brother. Matt was always trying to protect Caroline, but it always seemed to work the other way around. "What happened Matt?"

Matt tells her what Kat said and about how things had been weird since before they even left. He never thought their relationship was in this much trouble. He would have never left if he had had any clue.

"Don't you dare blame yourself, you hear me? This is Elena's loss, and she'll regret this." Caroline would never forgive her for breaking Matt's heart. "Come on Matty, don't let this destroy you. We'll figure something out. But right now you are going to pick yourself up, smile, and party with our guests because we're finally home again, ok?"

Matt took a deep breath and nodded; he hugged his little sister, and picked himself up. He would deal with his heartache later. "Thanks Caroline." They headed back into The Grill and passed the rest of the evening as best as they could.

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"Elijah, I just wish to be forgiven. Please tell me what I must do to earn this," Esther pleaded. It had been almost 3 years since her children had left her. Although she had tried to mend their relationship, they still would not forgive her.

Esther had asked to see Elijah in person. He was the only one who still spoke to her, even if it was always tense. He had agreed to see her at the café by his office.

"You know what must come to pass mother. In order for us to forgive you, Niklaus must at least consider speaking to you. As of now he does not even like the mention of your name. And we will not push him; he has already been hurt enough by you...and others. You must let it be mother. In time he might forgive you, but you make it worse each time you try to impose your own wishes onto him." Elijah had truthfully forgiven her a long time ago. He was older than Klaus and understood why his mother had stuck by Mikael's side even if he didn't agree with her. That did not mean that he would forget or that he would help her. He was loyal to his younger brother, who needed him now more than ever. He knew though, that someday Klaus would learn to forgive Esther. He sipped his tea and looked over at his mother. He just hoped it wouldn't be too late when he did.

"And what of my other children? Do they not wish to speak to me as well?" she asked.

Elijah looked down and sighed, he placed his hands on his lap. "Rebekah will always stand by Niklaus as I do. Kol, he does not care one way or the other, but he does not wish to hurt him as well. Henrik has not asked about you or father, he is doing well and looking forward. Until Niklaus can move past his pain, we will not bring you up mother."

Esther looked at Elijah solemnly. "Okay Elijah, I will wait, but I will never stop wanting to seek a reconciliation. I truly regret standing by and doing nothing." She got up from her seat, turned and walked away from the café dejectedly.

Elijah took a deep breath and hoped his brother would grow out of his stubborn ways and learn that there was more to life than hate and vengefulness, sooner rather than later. Though, after what Tatia had done to him, so soon after the incident with their parents, he wasn't so sure if Klaus would ever truly trust a woman again.

Even though Elijah had not reciprocated Tatia's advances; Klaus had unfortunately witnessed it. The woman he thought was the love of his life was throwing herself at his own brother and it nearly killed him. He knew it made Klaus feel like he would never be good enough for anyone. He'd been hurt enough when Mikael and Esther treated him like the outsider in their family, but after Tatia, it was hard for him to trust; even when it came to his siblings.

Elijah placed the money for the bill on the table and headed out. He arrived at his office in a couple of minutes. It had taken him a long time to build his career enough to leave his old company and start his own. He had finally made a name for himself as a publicist, without having to use the Mikaelson family name. He was now able to hire his own assistants and even added a couple of other publicists under him as well. He wanted to eventually just manage the business instead of the famous clientele. For now, he was still the publicist of a couple of very famous celebrities and also managed his brother's work, when he had any.

He had only been in his office for a couple of hours when he got the call from Rebekah. As soon as he heard her frantic voice, he knew something was wrong. He told her he'd meet her at home so she could explain and she told him to meet her at the hospital instead. That's when his heart dropped and he told his assistant he'd be out for the rest of the day.

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"I am going to kill your sister, Kat" Caroline was pacing her room, her hands rubbing at her temples. Matt had been mopping for a couple of weeks now. He had tried to call Elena once but hung up before she could answer.

"Get in line; you're not the only one who wants to strangle her. She's even ignoring Jeremy now." Katherine was lying on Caroline's bed flipping through a magazine. Kat had told Elena everything and her twin had been pissed to say the least. She had been ignoring Kat since she found out. Now she was ignoring their little brother as well and he couldn't understand that it had nothing to do with him.

"And here I thought when we got back we were all going to spend the summer together before the new school year." Caroline flopped down next to Kat. So many thoughts running through her head – she wasn't sure how she could help her big brother at this point.

Bonnie looked away from her laptop and over at Caroline. "Well, we should stop talking about Elena and Matt. It's not really our business and it's not helping you calm down. Matt is the one that has to deal with her, and this whole situation is starting to bum me out," she commented from the opposite side of Kat.

Caroline scrunched her nose and rolled her eyes. "He's my brother – of course it's my business. But, fine, I'll let it go for now." It was just part of her nature to be so overly protective of those she cared about. She kept thinking she would have to give Elena a piece of her mind, but she knew Matt wouldn't appreciate it, at least not until he could speak to her first. She told herself she would give it another week before she let her control-freak side get the better of her, and she MADE Matt talk to her. She let out a frustrated sigh then turned to look at her friends. "What are you looking at Bonnie?"

Bonnie flipped her beautiful dark wavy hair aside and looked at her then turned back to her screen and smiled. "Oh, I started looking at schools to apply to, I'm thinking of going out of state," she said excitedly.

Caroline shot up. "Seriously?! Me too, well I haven't really looked around that much, but I know for sure I don't want to go to Whitmore. I've actually been thinking about NYU; they have a really good photography program." Caroline smiled.

Kat's ears perked at this. "Ooh New York, that sounds like fun." Kat smirked and wiggled her eyes.

Bonnie laughed. "You know, NYU is definitely on my list. I'm thinking of majoring in marketing and taking some web design classes."

Kat's head started spinning with ideas now. "It sounds like you guys have already decided honestly. Why don't you two just apply to NYU together...actually why don't we all apply." Kat chimed in innocently.

Bonnie and Caroline turned to look at Kat surprised. As far as they knew, things were going great at Whitmore for her.

Kat gave them an exaggerated shrug. "What?! I've been thinking of transferring for a couple of months now. I'm just not feeling Whitmore and I haven't taken that many core classes. I mean, I'm on the Dean's list but only cuz I have nothing else to do," she laughed, "plus, the whole wanting to kill my sister every time she does something stupid doesn't help." Kat rolled her eyes and flipped the page of the magazine angrily. "Why don't we all go to NYU? Maybe I'll have more luck there."

Bonnie only had to think about it for a second before she knew that this would be such an awesome idea. "Why don't we apply first and go from there? I mean we might not even get in, except for you Kat." Bonnie suggested.

Caroline was getting excited and her neurotic brain was already planning what they would do once they got in. She had skipped a year to travel so she wasn't sure if they would take her, but she figured, if she could spin it to make her look more appealing, it might end up helping her. She had been her schools valedictorian, that had mean something to them, right? "We should totally go check out the campus." She grinned.

Kat started laughing. "I wouldn't mind going to check out the guy potential." She gave them a mischievous look.

"Of course that's what you'd want to do." Bonnie grabbed the pillow and smacked her lightly while she laughed. Kat grabbed the other pillow and smacked Bonnie right back and started a small pillow fight.

Caroline ignored them and started planning in her head. "Okay, so we apply and when we're accepted - because I won't have it any other way, even if I have to go down there and convince them in person - we'll take a road trip to check out the campus and maybe some apartments." Caroline was ecstatic, while Bonnie and Kat were laughing at how sure she was that they would get in. They really wouldn't put it past her to really go down to NYU and threaten them to accept her. They looked at each other then both turned to Caroline and pounced on her with the pillows until she started to giggle and grabbed a pillow to defend herself.

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The art studio was a mess; there was paint everywhere and Klaus wasn't really in the mood to clean up. He had been painting almost the entire day. Elijah, and then Rebekah, had been calling him earlier in the afternoon and it finally seemed like they had given up. Klaus knew Elijah had gone to see Esther, and even if he hadn't outright forgiven her, it had caused Elijah to start lecturing that Klaus had to stop acting like a child. He knew it wasn't logical but he still felt like Elijah was betraying him somehow. So he'd decided to channel it into his art. He wasn't sure why Rebekah was calling since she always stated that she was on his side, but since it was right after Elijah he thought it was his doing.

Every time he started to paint, something seemed to be missing, so he would paint over it and start again. It wasn't until he had taken a break to eat that he finally saw how to put what he was feeling onto canvas. As soon as he could see it in his mind, he was up and painting. Instead of using his regular canvas though, he grabbed a wood canvas and some of his bigger brushes. He knew that this piece would be void of bright colors. Once he went into his zone he wouldn't stop until he finished.

By the time he was done, he had been painting for at least 15 hours. When he looked at the final product, he was pleased with himself. He wanted to convey a sense of being an outcast in his own family. He used lots of deep dark reds, the color of blood, and blacks with hints of dark blues and purples. There was no light in it because that's how he felt at that moment. How he'd been feeling for a couple years if he was honest with himself. The fact that his bastardy had been shoved in his face by Mikael in the end had put him on the edge; then the only bright spot in his life, Tatia, had shattered his heart. It was the final nail in the coffin. He was at a point in his life where all he could feel was anger, pain, and revenge for most of the time. He did not want to forgive his mother for letting him fall this far. She was supposed to protect and care for him, yet she helped put him where he was. He stubbornly promised himself he would never forgive her.

It was 4 AM and he was staring at his latest piece, lost in thought when he heard a knock on his door. He looked at the clock and he furrowed his eyebrows as he turned his head to look at the door. Another nock – followed by the voice of Elijah.

"I know you are in there Niklaus."

Klaus rolled his eyes and went to open the door. "What the bloody hell are you doing here at 4 in the morning," Klaus asked irritably.

"Why did you not answer your phone?" If Klaus had been paying attention he would have noticed how upset and unkempt Elijah was. Of course he was still wearing one of his pristine suits, but it wasn't as impeccable as usual. He looked haggard like HE had been the one up all night.

Klaus studied his brother more intently. "I was painting so I had it on silent. What's wrong?" Klaus finally realized his brother wasn't alright.

"Henrik was in an accident." Klaus' eyes widened. "He is fine now, but we needed you and you wouldn't answer mine, nor Rebekah's, calls." Elijah usually kept his emotions pretty close to himself. He was always the one who kept his cool and took control, but right now Klaus could tell he was irate.

Klaus sighed heavily and let his head hang; he knew immediately he had screwed up. "I'm sorry Elijah – I should have realized something was wrong when Rebekah tried calling as well." He shook his head. "I'll get my things and we can go. Where's Kol?" He grabbed his jacket, keys and phone; then made sure he had his wallet and headed towards the door.

"He's coming, he was in Paris, but he said he'd get the first flight available. He should arrive in a couple of hours." They were both briskly walking to Elijah's car.

"What happened to Henrik, exactly?" Klaus was berating himself in his mind. How could he let this happen, he's supposed to protect his family? Instead he had been ignoring them and selfishly focusing on his own pain. That would never happen again, he would not fail them the way his parents had failed him and he would not disappoint Elijah.

Elijah pulled out his keys and unlocked the doors so they could get into the car. "He was with April at the waterfall; he was trying to impress her and jumped. He didn't jump far enough and hit the edge of some of the rocks and landed hard on his side. He broke his right shoulder, bruised his collar bone and has a lot of scrapes on his side and face." Luckily the hospital wasn't too far away from the studio so it didn't take long to get there.

When they arrived Rebekah was outside the room on the phone. "Yes Kol, I promise, Henrik is fine. I think he has more of a bruised ego than anything else. He kept asking about April." Rebekah rolled her eyes and sees Elijah and Klaus coming down the hall. "Okay, I have to go, Elijah finally found Klaus. Call us when you land." She hung up and looked at Klaus as she placed a hand on her hip. "Where the hell have you been brother?" She huffed.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "I've already been lectured by Elijah, I don't need it from you too Bekah. Where's Henrik? I want to see him."

Rebekah sighed and shook her head; she pointed behind her. "He's in there, but he's sleeping right now."

Klaus nodded and moved past her as he quietly entered the room. He saw Henrik lying on the hospital bed. Seeing him there made him feel worse about not being here for him when he needed him most and it brought up images of his own past. He sat down in the chair beside the bed and just watched his baby brother sleep. He didn't have to wait long before Henrik woke up.

Henrik opened his eyes, saw Klaus, and groggily gave him a huge grin. "Klaus! Did you see – I get to have a cool looking cast?"

Klaus smirked and shook his head. "Of course you would think this fun. You broke your shoulder you fool, and for a girl no less. Have I taught you nothing dear brother?" He looked at Henrik and his smile faltered. "I'm sorry I was not here for you."

Henrik smiled. "Why? Elijah and Rebekah are babying me plenty. I told them you were probably painting and to just leave you be. The doctor said I could be released today anyways." He shrugged.

"I know, but I promised you I'd always be here for you and protect you. I won't fail you again." Klaus said seriously.

Henrik lost his smile and stared at Klaus sadly. "You can't always be there for me."

Klaus was so taken aback by how his baby brother spoke. He looked and sounded older when he said that. He thought he had done a pretty good job of shielding him from Mikael's wrath. But the way Henrik was staring at him said otherwise and it broke his heart even more. It seemed like none of them had been saved, and Mikael had successfully damaged them all.

Klaus let out a heavy sigh, leaned forward and looked down at his hands then looked up at his brother again. "I won't let anyone hurt you ever again. Do you understand me?" He pursed his lips and his eyes darkened.

Henrik sadly and slowly nodded his head and they sat there in silence.

Elijah and Rebekah walked in with the doctor a few minutes later. True to his words, the doctor told them Henrik would be released in a couple of hours after all the paperwork was filled out and they where given instructions for Henrik's recuperation. By 10AM Henrik was released and Rebekah left a message for Kol, letting him know to meet them at home instead.

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Matt walked into his mom's house going through the mail. He'd had his own place near The Grill for a while now but he still practically lived at his moms. He only stayed at his own place when it was really late and he didn't want to wake Caroline. Matt noticed a huge envelope from NYU and got really excited. "Care! You got mail from NYU!" He could hear Caroline running down the stairs and he chuckled.

Caroline barreled right into him, "Give it here!" she said as she ripped it out of Matt's hands. As much as she had said she wasn't worried, she had secretly started to worry last week. Kat had gotten her acceptance into NYU's Stern 2 weeks earlier. But she and Bonnie had still been waiting – until yesterday when Bonnie had gotten her acceptance letter to NYU's Steinhardt. Seeing the huge envelope gave her hope. She really didn't know what she would do if she didn't get in. She stood there, frozen, looking at the envelope.

Matt nudged her. "Well, open it!" he yelled.

Caroline grabbed the letter opener on the counter and ripped the envelope open. She pulled the loose page in the front and read it. "Dear Ms. Caroline Forbes. Congratulations! We very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into New York University's Tisch School of the Arts..." Caroline's eyes started to water and Matt pulled her in for a big hug.

"That's awesome Care, I knew you would do it." Matt grinned. "I'm proud of you little sister."

Caroline became ecstatic as the news started to sink in; she hugged Matt again and then started jumping up and down screaming. "I'm in, I'm in, I'm in!" Her blonde curls bouncing all around her.

Matt laughed. "You should call Kat and Bonnie." He folded his arms and leaned on the kitchens door frame.

"This is going to be so amazing. The three of us in New York, we're going to take over that city." Caroline stopped jumping and grabbed the phone. She was the last to get the letter, so she called the girls and they all started screaming.

Matt laughed and watched her, excited for all of them. They were all going to go off to start a new life in New York while he stayed stuck in Mystic Falls. His smile faltered. He really wouldn't have cared as much if Elena was still with him. He sighed and pushed himself off of the frame. "Alright Care, I gotta go. I have the evening shift at The Grill. Oh, and congrats again on the NYU thing." He kissed the top of her head, grabbed his work shirt and headed to his truck.

Caroline noticed that he wasn't as excited as before. He looked sad, and she knew why; He thought she was leaving him behind. As soon as she heard him get into his truck she finally decided to let girls in on her secret plan. "Okay girls, we're in, now it's on to the rest of my plan. I really hope you guys will agree with me." Kat and Bonnie listened. "I want to drag Matty with us. He's moping about Elena; no offense Kat, but I know he can do better. And I know my mom would feel better if he was out there with us anyway."

Katherine was the first to speak. "I actually think that's a good idea Care and believe me I take no offense."

"Care, we all know that you're going to do it anyways. So why don't we have a sleepover at my place like we used to and we can plan our attack." Bonnie laughed.

Caroline smiled at her friends. "I knew you guys would approve. Okay, tonight, sleepover. We have to start planning everything, we only have a few months and we still have to find a place to live I doubt there's anything available for the three of us together on campus." She headed for her room to pack for the night.

"I'll bring the booze." Kat smirked and the girls laughed. They all hung up and started getting their things ready.

While Matt was driving, he kept thinking about how he'd fallen so far into the rut he was in. He was stuck in a job where there was no growth, he'd lost the girl of his dreams, and now his little sister was off to New York and creating a better life for herself. He didn't know what he had done wrong to fall this low; as much as he wanted out, he didn't know how to motivate himself. So now, everyone was passing him by.

He parked, went inside to get clocked in and headed for the back office. John would be in tonight to do the payroll, and he wanted to speak to him again. Matt knocked on the open door and John's head turned up.

"Hey Matt." John set his pen down.

"Hey, so I was kinda hoping we could talk about that raise for a higher position." Matt sat down hesitantly in one of the seats.

John pursed his lips and looked down at his paperwork. "I know I promised that we could do it in a couple months, but I've been going over the books and I just can't afford it right now. I hate to keep you in such a limbo state, but I'm not sure when it'll be happening if at all."

Matt ran his hands trough his hair and shrugged as he gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, I get it. It's no problem, maybe in a couple more months." He wouldn't hold his breath. Matt gets up and heads for the bar to start his shift reluctantly.

At 8 PM, Caroline heads over to Bonnie's and Kat pulls up next to her as she parks, so she waits for her to go in together.

"Hey kitty Kat." Caroline smiles and hugs Kat.

Kat pulls away and glares at her. "Don't even start with that name; I thought you'd finally forgotten it." Caroline laughs and Kat squints her eyes and yells, "Carebear!"

Caroline sticks her tongue out like a 5 year old as Kat rolls her eyes. "I happen to like my nickname." She then helps carry the bags that Kat brought. They head for the door and ring the bell.

Sheila opens the doors. "Well hello girls. Come in, Bonnie's in her room."

"Hi Grams!" both girls reply then hug her and head to Bonnie's room. Sheila had become like an adoptive grandmother to the girls ever since they had become friends in kindergarten.

Bonnie hears them and ends up coming out of her room to help with the bags. "Sheesh, how long are you staying over guys." Caroline chuckles and Kat smirks.

"This," Caroline says as she points to the bags, "is ALL Kat."

"Well, what can I say; I had to bring all the important essentials. Vodka, rum, whiskey," she grins.

"Oh god, I'm gonna have a headache in the morning aren't I," Bonnie jokes as she sets the bags down in her room.

"Oh relax, I'm joking. I brought everything we need to look for places in New York and to plan how we're getting Matty to go with us," Kat states.

"Alright let's set everything up. I think operation Matty is the first thing we need to figure out." Caroline is determined to bring Matt with her. He needs a change to jump start his life and she'll make it happen, even if she has to physically drag him.

"I honestly don't think he'll need that much convincing Care." Bonnie starts to take out the stuff Kat did bring, a bottle of vodka included.

"Yeah, just tell him the truth, and if he tries to act like a tough guy; stroke his ego and tell him we'd all feel safer if he went with us." Kat pulls out the snacks from the bags while Caroline takes out the laptop and turns it on.

"Alright, I guess that was probably the easy part, I'll start talking to him tomorrow; now onto apartment hunting." She grinned. Kat grabbed the laptop, Caroline used her tablet and Bonnie used her desktop.

Bonnie spun on her chair to look at them. "Where do we want to focus on?" she raised her eyebrows as she asked.

Caroline pondered for a moment then asked, "Well, what price range are we going for?"

"My parents said they'd help as long as I get a job," Kat said as she laid the laptop on the bed. Grayson Gilbert was the head surgeon at Mystic Falls's only hospital, he would never let his little girl live anywhere that didn't suit her. To say that Katherine and Elena were spoiled was an understatement. It also didn't hurt that they came from old money, Grayson and Miranda were part of the towns council and the Gilbert's we're even a part of the founding families for Mystic Falls. So they definitely could afford a nice place. It was a little surprising that they were asking her to get a job.

"Okay, and my dad and Stephen said they'd help, plus I'm gonna get a job too." Caroline looked at Bonnie. Bill and his partner weren't rich but they both had high paying jobs. Stephen didn't have any family of his own, so Bill and he would give Matt and Caroline as much as they could without spoiling them too much. Liz couldn't help as much because she still had to pay for her own house on the small salary she had from being the towns Sheriff.

"I don't really want to depend on my parents, but my Grams said she'd help as much as she could and I'm getting financial aid, so I think we can get a pretty nice place. If we want more space, we have to look further away from the school so it's not insanely priced." Bonnie said as she turned to look at her computer and started opening up some websites.

"Okay, and also, if Matty comes with us, he'll pay part of it. Let's look for the places that actually fit what we need and want so we can figure out a price range, then we'll see." Caroline looked at the girls and they nodded. "Now, as for location, I'd rather be closer to the university even if it is more pricey."

"Yeah, I don't want have to walk as much" Kat shrugged and the girls snorted, they knew how much she hated to exercise. Elena had always been the athletic one and yet they still both looked identically thin and fit.

They searched for hours on different sites that by the time they were done it was already midnight. They had found quite a few places in different areas and price ranges, so they decided they'd narrow it down the next day. Caroline's neurotic self took the responsibility to contact each listing for more info and pictures if they had any. The girls hoped that by the end of the week they would have a few places that met everything they wanted to choose from and then they would head up to NY for their mini road trip to see the apartments they heard back from. They decided they were done for the night and it was time for the fun part of the sleepover; drinking, a movie, and some gossiping.

They were in a chick flick kind of mood so Kat put on The Devil Wears Prada while Bonnie got some glasses for the drinks. Caroline started opening the snacks and putting them within reach of the bed. They had seen this movie so many times but they loved Anne's fashion transformation and it was held in New York so it made them feel giddy that they would soon be living there and walking those streets. They changed into their pj's and settled in to watch the movie and after only an hour, the girls had fallen asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

"I'm Home! Where is everyone!?" Kol slammed the door and threw his luggage next to one of the tables in the hallway. He heard Rebekah running towards him and prepared himself for her hug and plastered on his signature grin.

Rebekah came flying out of the sitting room and threw herself at Kol for a huge hug. "Brother! I've missed you so much."

Elijah and Klaus entered and they smiled. Kol had been gone for 5 months, the longest time away since he had decided not to go to school 2 years ago. He probably would have been gone longer if it wasn't for Henrik's accident. Kol hugged his sister back then let her go and looked up. "Long time no see, brothers. And Bekah still dressing like a strumpet I see." Rebekah gapes at him then punches him on the shoulder.

Klaus smirked and headed over to his younger brother patting him on the back.

Elijah smiled and nodded his head. "We've all missed you. Hopefully you have decided to stay longer than last time."

Kol grimaced, he felt like he was being scolded. Klaus had always been their protector, but it was Elijah that he saw as a father. He knew that Elijah felt like it was somehow his fault that he didn't want to stay home in London, but it really wasn't. Kol just felt restless and wanted to travel, so he did. "I'm sorry Elijah; I really will try to stay for a while. How is Henrik?"

Klaus tensed and folded his arms. "He's fine, broke his shoulder the bloody fool, but he'll live. He's just resting in his room. I thought that maybe we could have a family dinner since you're home, once he wakes up that is."

Rebekah smiled and clasped her hands. "I think that's a lovely idea. Kol get your things out of here and into your room. I'll start getting things ready for dinner then I'll have to go ready my things for tomorrows photo shoot." She turned and hugged Kol once more then went to the kitchen to talk to their chef.

Kol quirked his eyebrow. "Who died and made her the queen of the house?"

Klaus and Elijah chuckled; Rebekah had been trying to take over the order of the house for a while. They had always treated her like a princess, so it was no surprise that they indulged her in this wish as well. Kol picked up his bags and took it to his room while Klaus and Elijah went back to the sitting room. Klaus wasn't in the mood to do much else but read and since Elijah had canceled his day for Henrik he was left with nothing to do as well.

Elijah poured himself a drink and sat across from Klaus and started looking at him.

Klaus could feel his eyes on him and started fidgeting. "Stop staring and ask what you want to ask, dear brother."

"The painting, in your studio, it's new?" Elijah had always taken an interest in his art; it was a way to communicate with him. Klaus was so guarded all the time, but Elijah quickly learned that he put it all in his art, so Elijah started taking a keen interest in his work and would ask him about it whenever he created something.

Klaus kept his head down like he was still reading but gave up and he looked straight at his brother, then sighed and set the book down. "Yes it's new, but it's for me; I'm not going to sell it."

Elijah nodded and set his drink on the side table then leaned back and smoothed the front of his suit a bit. "I only saw it briefly but it looked amazing and yet sad somehow; almost painful or lonely."

Klaus was starting to get upset. "Stop. Just stop trying to analyze it and me. If I wanted you to bloody know what it was about I would tell you. You weren't even supposed to see it, it was meant for me alone."

"Okay Niklaus, I will let it be. But know that I am always here for you." He picked up is drink and stood. He walked to the mantle and kept his back to Klaus.

Klaus sighed, he felt bad for snapping at Elijah. "I'm sorry, maybe I'll tell you about it sometime, but not right now."

Elijah smiled then turned to watch Klaus again. "I know that my meeting with mother has upset you, but you have to understand that I am beyond this childish stubborn view you have held onto. I promised you that I would not let her into our lives unless you choose to, but that does not mean that I agree with you. I am older than you Niklaus, I saw them at their happiest point; I understand why she was trying to hold onto Mikael. I hope that you can move past this one day, but until then you have to trust this family and that we wish you only happiness. "

Klaus narrowed his eyes at Elijah. He hated when he spoke about Esther and forgiving her because it always brought back the sting of rejection.

Kol had been listening around the corner and thought it was time for him to enter and change the atmosphere before Klaus became too upset. "So, what time has Rebekah planned our dinner and what's this about a photo shoot?" He plopped down next to Klaus to try and break the tension.

Elijah turned to the mantle and Klaus answered. "She hasn't yet told us the time, but most likely at 6 and the photo shoot is our dear sister's try at modeling. She has given up on her studies to pursue this dreadful dream."

"Not anymore dreadful than your art career Nik." Rebekah sneered at him as she entered the room.

Kol laughs and pulls Rebekah down next to him. "Oh, how I've missed you. Now tell me, where is this photo shoot and will there be any other girls there?"

Klaus smirks and Elijah shakes his head as he sits down across from them.

"Don't even think about showing up Kol, you'll ruin everything. It's not some friendly get together; it's an actual job where I get paid to work." She pushes Kol away and crosses the room to sit next to Elijah. "Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours. Henrik is still asleep but I'll wake him up in a bit, he's rested enough."

"Oh come now Bekah, you know I only mean to have a bit of fun," he grins mischievously, "and I'll wake Henrik since he hasn't seen me yet; I want to surprise him."

Rebekah rolls her eyes and turns to Elijah. "Keep him away from my set or I will bloody kill him."

They all chuckle and Elijah nods, he doesn't want to ruin this for Rebekah and also doesn't want to anger her. They ask Kol how he's been since he's been gone and of course he goes off spouting all these random stories. Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah just sit and listen and laugh at his stories. They've really missed him and his antics. A couple of hours later he goes upstairs to wake up Henrik and bring him down for dinner. Kol knew he was already up because he could hear music playing through the door.

Kol barged through without warning. "Get up little one, your favorite brother is home."

Henrik's eyes widened and he smiled. "Kol! Your here! Did they really make you come back, just for me."

Kol scoffed. "No one make's me do anything. So what's this I hear about you making a fool out of yourself in front of a girl?"

Henrik rolls his eyes. "Hey it was awesome and now she keeps asking if I'm okay and if I need anything she'll be there for me."

Kol grins. "My man, using your pain to get the ladies. I applaud you little one, you've learned well."

Henrik laughs with Kol and hugs him. "I've missed you, everyone else babies me. How long are you staying?"

Kol shrugs, they keep unknowingly making him feel guilty for not wanting to stay home. "Depends, Elijah is hoping for me to stay longer than last time, you know I hate to disappoint him. So, I'll probably be here for a couple of months. But for today, Klaus has planed a family dinner that Bekah has prepared, so get up. We have to head downstairs and at least make an appearance."

Henrik nods his head and pushes himself up using his good arm. He's starting to feel the pain from his shoulder but he doesn't show it, just like Klaus used to, he doesn't want anyone to worry about him. "Please tell me Bekah didn't actually cook anything," he jokes.

"Ha! You're getting funnier little one. Don't let Bekah hear you though or she'll break your other shoulder." Kol opens the bedroom door and helps Henrik down to the dinning room.

The house that Elijah had gotten them was by no means as extravagant as their childhood home but it wasn't a small place either. They each had their own room plus a painting room and office for the older brothers; there was a sitting room, a game room, a library, a chefs kitchen, and last but not least a huge dining room. They all loved this room because it made them feel like royalty being served. This day was no exception. Rebekah had quickly pulled together an amazing dinner for her brothers, with the help of their chef of course, and she had left them amazed.

"I don't know how you do it Bekah, but you always pull off the best dinners," Kol said, smiling fondly at his baby sister.

Getting a complement from Kol, was like winning the lottery, so she was ecstatic with how happy he looked at her. She grinned at all of them and they enjoyed their meal in peace for once.

No bickering or joking around; they just enjoyed being together after being apart for so long. Elijah picked up his drink and looked around and felt a tightness in his chest at seeing his entire family happy. He wished he could keep them like this forever. Tomorrow would be a new day, and with it, he knew his siblings would start to pull away again and he sighed. But for tonight he would sleep well. He raised his glass and his siblings looked up at him. "To family." They each reached for their own glass, and raised it as well and responded, "Always and forever."

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Matt had finally finished wiping down the bar and tables and called it a night. He said goodbye to the couple of coworkers left and headed to his place, he wanted some alone time. He loved his little sister but it was hard for him to know that she was moving on without him. When he got home he opened up a bottle of beer and turned on his TV. He watched a couple of shows and fell asleep on his couch. He didn't wake up until noon.

He heard a ringing sound and grabbed his phone. "Hello." He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Are you still asleep?! Get up, lazy butt, and come over. I need to talk to you about something. Don't take long!" Caroline shrieked at him then hung up before Matt even got a word in.

Matt looked at his phone and chuckled. He went to his room and set out some clothes, then headed to his bathroom to shower. He only took a few minutes and got ready to head to his moms to see what Caroline wanted. He wasn't scheduled to work that day so he'd probably just stay there.

He grabbed his wallet, phone, and keys then headed to his trusty truck. It was the first thing he had been able to buy with his own money, so he loved it and took care of it as best as he could.

Caroline however hated it; her and the girls even used to call it the bucket of death. Which is why she had happily accepted the shiny new Ford Fiesta from their dad as a Christmas present last year. She would always tell him it wasn't that she didn't appreciate Matt's truck when he drove her around, she just liked newer things. He started the truck and went straight to his mom's.

As soon as he was inside the house he could hear Caroline talking on the phone in the kitchen. He assumed it was Kat by the conversation.

"Yeah, I'll head over to Bonnie's in a couple of hours. We'll sort through all the apartments and then I'll e-mail all the places we choose." She stopped to listen to Kat. "Yeah, I'm gonna tell him right now, I think he just came in so I'll see you later." Caroline turned around and saw Matt leaning on the counter with his hands in this pocket's. He was looking at her curiously. "What?! Do I have food on my face or something?"

Matt shook his head and grinned. "What did you call me over here for and what was Kat asking about me? Is it about Elena?" He looked at her with a glimmer of hope.

Caroline frowned and yelled exasperated. "No, stop that! You need to get over her! She doesn't deserve you Matt, you need to realize that. You're the best guy she could have had and she gave you up without even telling you. It's time to move on." She knew what she was saying hurt him, but he really did need to let go of her. "Sooo…I've decided you're moving with us to New York." She looked at him nervously.

Matt had turned away, not really wanting to hear the truth of the situation but when he heard Caroline's declaration, his head shot up and he shook his head. "What?"

Caroline straightened up and raised her chin. "Bonnie, Kat and I have decided it would be best for you to move to New York with us. We're going for NYU and you, you need a fresh start, away from Mystic Falls. Besides, mom would feel better if you're there with us." She smiled and clasped her hands triumphantly like it was a done deal.

Matt just stared at her dumbfounded. "….What?!" He shook his head and mulled over her demand. Yes, she was being a control freak again and trying to run his life, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized this was exactly what he needed. He had been thinking about being able to get a fresh start and here it was, being handed to him on a silver platter.

Matt paced around the kitchen and Caroline waited patiently. The longer he said nothing, the surer she was that he would say yes, she just needed to nudge him a little more. "You know you want to Matty; it's the best choice for you."

Matt stopped, turned and grinned at her. "When do we leave?" It's not like he could be worse off over there.

Caroline squealed and tackled her brother. "Yay! Everything is falling right into place. We already started looking for apartments. Next weekend we're gonna go check them out so you have to ask for it off. We need to decide together. I'm going over to Bonnie's later so we can narrow it down, if you want to come."

Matt shook his head. "Nah, I trust you. You know I don't need much; you girls will be the picky ones." Caroline punches him in the arm and he just laughs. "I'll let John know I can't work next weekend so I can make sure the place we choose is safe." He hugs Caroline. "Thank you, for looking out for me."

Caroline shrugs. "Anytime big brother." She smiles at him and starts to head to her room to get her stuff ready for Bonnie's. She stops at the staircase and yells out to him, "Call Elena and let her go, get closure. This needs to be about you moving on, not running away." It had been close to 2 months and neither of them had spoken to Elena yet. She still didn't want to push him, but now she had to if he really was to move on.

Matt hears her go up the stairs. He breathes in heavily and lets it out, knowing that he should do what she said. But not yet; He'd do it tomorrow after he talks to John, that way there would be no turning back. Matt opens the refrigerator door and grabs something to eat and heads to the living room to watch some TV. For the first time in a long while he was finally excited about where his life was headed.

By 3pm the girls had decided to meet at Caroline's instead; Grams was having company and they didn't want to disturb them. Bonnie goes to pick up Kat from the Gilbert's and then they head over to Caroline's. They see Matt's truck in the driveway and hope that means he'll be helping them look. It's a lot harder than they thought it would be to decide on a place. Bonnie parks behind Matt and the girls get out of the car. She opens her trunk while Kat heads to the door to call Matt.

"Matty! We need your help." Bonnie rolls her eyes because Kat just doesn't want to lift anything.

Matt hears Kat and pauses the TV. "Yeah right, you're just lazy." He smirks as Kat shrugs indifferently. He heads to the door to let her in and walks out to help Bonnie. "Here, let me get that Bon."

She grabs her laptop bag and goes to pick up another one of the bags when Matt stops her. She looks up at him and smiles. "I'm not Kat; I don't need a guy to do everything for me."

Matt grins, "yeah but Care would kick my ass if she saw me sitting down while you carried everything in." He grabs the couple of bags in one hand and closes the trunk with the other. Bonnie goes into the house and keeps the door open for Matt.

Caroline bounds down the stairs and smiles at her best friends. "Just leave the bags down here. I figure we only need the laptop since we probably won't be searching anymore just narrowing which apartments we're actually going to go check out."

Matt places the bags next to the couch and Bonnie sets her laptop down on the coffee table. She follows Caroline and Matt into the kitchen where Kat started rummaging through their fridge.

"Sure Kat, you can eat our food," Matt jokingly tells her.

Kat smirks at him and takes a bite of the sandwich she grabbed from the fridge. "Yum tastes so good, is it yours." Matt rolls his eyes and grabs a beer then heads back to the couch to watch the rest of the game.

"Oh, stop bugging Matt and that was mine by the way. Bonnie can you help me make some extra sandwiches?" She starts pulling out some ingredients and making food for everyone. Bonnie helped her a bit then got some plates to put them on. "I rechecked the apartments and a couple have already been taken down, so that's gonna help us narrow things a bit."

They grabbed the food and headed to the living room. Kat and Bonnie pushed Matt over and he grumbled. "I'm trying to watch the game," he said annoyed.

Caroline frowned, grabbed the remote and turned the TV off. "You're helping us. I know you said you didn't care, but it'll help us choose which apartments we're going to visit, and stop being so grumpy." Matt huffed and the girls snickered; Caroline could be such a mom sometimes.

Bonnie and Caroline turn on their laptops and they set up all the info for each place. Matt goes through them fairly quickly and immediately crosses off 3 places, leaving them with a total of 9. It was still too many; they wanted to cut it down to 5, so they emailed each place for more info and pictures and if they would be available to show it the next weekend. After a few hours they had received a response from all except one, so they each took 2 and went through all of them. By the end they had narrowed it down to 6.

"We can check out 6 if we really want to, we just won't have time to relax and do anything else in the city." Caroline put all their choices side by side.

"5 of them are around the same price while the other is almost 1/3 more. I say we get rid of that one." Matt picked it up and placed it in the no pile and Kat pouted. Since her parents were paying the most, they all had decided she would get the master if it had one and that one actually had its own bathroom and balcony.

They looked at their final choices and smiled. "Ok so we're done for now, I'll schedule all the appointments and let you guys know what the schedule for the day will be. We'll leave Thursday night so we can see the city on Friday morning and party a little at night." Caroline grinned and wiggled her eyebrows and of course the girls agreed. Matt just smirked and shook his head. "Saturday we'll go see the listings and Sunday we can decide and let the renters know, and then come home. This is going to be so much fun!" Caroline got out of her chair and jumped on Matty and the girls hugging them. They all started laughing then got comfortable and put on a movie.

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"Up and at em Bekah. Don't want us to be late for your photo shoot now do you." Kol jumped on her bed and smirked. He had been up since 6AM, since his body was still on Paris time, so he was actually up before Rebekah for once, and he had no intention of missing the photo shoot.

Rebekah groaned and pulled the covers over her head. The photo shoot wasn't until noon, why was he waking her up already.

"Bekah, Bekah, BEKAH! I'm bored, wake up." He pulled on her covers and started poking her shoulders.

"ARGH! Leave me alone Kol or I'll bloody kill you. It's only 7 in the morning, go bug Nik, I'm sure he's up already." She grabbed her pillow and smacked him in the face before pulling the covers over herself once more.

"Ow! Well you're no fun, but don't think you'll be able to sneak out of here for the shoot." Kol jumped out of her bed and left her room. As soon as he stepped out he heard some classical music and knew that Klaus was up and painting, so he decided to go and do what he does best and stir up trouble so he could have some fun. He went straight to the source and found Klaus in his art room.

"Morning brother, what are you painting now? More horses?" Kol walked up beside him and started messing with his brushes.

Klaus rolled his eyes and snatched the brushes away. "It is too early for your antics Kol. What do you want?" He was working on a landscape that he'd been trying to finish for a few weeks now. It was a pretty big piece, but it didn't allow his creativity to come out, so he kept putting it aside.

"Everyone is so boring, I'm trying to have some fun with my dear siblings, but no one wants to play." Kol sat down in the sofa and started pouting.

Klaus smiled. Kol could be such a child sometimes, but he always brightened their home because he was always trying to cheer everyone up and have fun. He had really missed him and his silly ways. He set his brushes down and turned on his stool to face Kol. "Okay Kol, what do you want to do?"

Kol grinned and sat up. "I'm not really sure. I don't want to leave the house since I want to tag along with Bekah to her shoot. How about a game on Henrik's Xbox? I haven't played in such a long time, you might actually be able to beat me."

Klaus laughed. "Alright, but you bloody well know I can beat you at anything." They both got up and headed to their TV/game room where they had the Xbox set up. They played a racing game until Klaus had beat Kol three times in a row and he accused Klaus of cheating, so they started playing a shooting game where they worked as a team.

By 10, Rebekah was up and dressed to go. She went downstairs to the kitchen to get some breakfast and find Kol. Even though she'd told him he wasn't invited to the shoot, she knew she'd be letting him come with her. She didn't want to be bored during the shoot and Kol always entertained people.

She had a bowl of cereal, some toast and a cup of coffee. When she was done she went to the game room where she found Klaus, Kol and Henrik. Henrik was just watching since his shoulder didn't allow him to play. When he saw Rebekah, he called her over.

"Morning Henrik. How long have they been at it?" Rebekah sat down next to him.

Henrik smiled at her. "I've only been here for 10 minutes, so I'm not sure. I don't even think they've noticed us; they're in a zone."

Rebekah gave him an evil smirk, grabbed a sofa pillow and threw it at Kol's hands. It made him lose control of his character and get killed.

"Hey! Your are such a brat sister." Kol turned around and threw the pillow back at her and she just laughed. He got up, grabbed another pillow and headed over to her and she started panicking. "You are paying for that." He was going to attack her with the pillow, but Klaus stopped him.

"Leave her be Kol, I've got to get back to painting anyways." Kol rolled his eyes and Rebekah stuck her tongue out at him while Henrik was laughing besides them. Klaus just smirked at them and left.

"Don't even think about trying anything Kol or I won't take you with me. Go get ready, we're leaving at 10:30." Kol grumbled as he left and she beamed at him.

"You're actually letting him go with you? Are you mad? He's going to be flirting with all the girls."

"There aren't going to be any other girls. In fact it's only going to be me and a few guys." She smirked. "Hopefully this will deter him from ever wanting to come along again."

Henrik couldn't stop laughing at the thought of Kol seeing Rebekah with a bunch of men for a photo shoot. He was going to be so mad when they got back.

At 10:30 they left and by 11 they were at the location for the shoot. As soon as they walked in, Kol noticed there weren't any other female models and he turned to Rebekah. She just grinned at him. Unfortunately for Rebekah, Kol didn't let this ruin his fun. By the end of the shoot all the guys were having a blast with Kol and she was left on the sidelines pouting. It wasn't a long shoot since it was more of a commercial look they were going for. She still didn't have a big enough name to be given high editorial shoots yet.

At 4 they wrapped up and Rebekah had to drag Kol away from everyone, they all loved him. "Looks like your plan failed sister."

"Oh shut up!" She huffed and stormed to the car. Kol snickered and followed her.

By the time they got home it was dinner time and Klaus had made their chef prepare something quick. Elijah wasn't with them because he had a lot to make up, for missing the day before. Henrik was feeling sleepy after taking some of his pain medication so he didn't eat much before he went to bed. Rebekah and Kol kept bickering the entire time and Klaus just tried to ignore them.

When he was done he went back to his art room. He was almost finished with the landscape piece. He only had some minor details to do and it would be complete. It wasn't his favorite or best work but his commission work sold faster.

Most of his abstract work was very dark so people that didn't understand and appreciate art, didn't really gravitate to it. He was still looking for his big break, so for now, he was stuck doing typical landscapes, some portraits and a couple of other commission works. Klaus hoped people would recognize his talent soon.

He heard the door open but kept looking at his work. "I really like it Nik, you have such an amazing gift to shine the light on all the beauty that's surrounds us." Rebekah hugged Klaus' shoulders quickly from behind and then walked away. Klaus smiled and whispered 'thank you'. He worked on the painting until Elijah came home and then wished him a good night and went to sleep.

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As soon as Matt told John that he would need the weekend off, he felt like everything started to become real. He still hadn't gotten up the nerve to call Elena and let out all of the emotions that had been building up, but he knew if he didn't do it soon Caroline was going to be on him until he did. So he made up his mind, right then and there, and decided today would be the day. He didn't work that day but he didn't want Caroline to be hovering, so he stayed in his apartment and just kept going over what he wanted to say.

Every time he grabbed his phone, he felt like he was having a panic attack; he knew once he talked to her it would really be over. He had been postponing it because once he heard her voice that would be it, there would be no turning back.

He looked at his clock and saw it was 2 in the afternoon and knew, according to Kat, she wouldn't have anymore classes for the rest of the day. He took a deep breath in and breathed out, grabbed his phone, looked up her name and called her.

After the third ring she answered. "Hello." He couldn't say anything, it had been a couple of months since he'd last heard her voice. "Matty, are you there?" He could hear her pity and he finally snapped and became angry .

"I just want to know why and how you could treat me like this? I always put you first and practically worshipped you." He didn't sound like her sweet Matt and she wasn't expecting it.

"I-I'm sorry Matty, I just kept thinking 'Is this it?'. You're so sweet and nice but I want to be so in love that I feel like it consumes me and I didn't feel that with you."

Matt scoffed. "Wow, I never realized you're such a spoiled child; I should have a lot sooner. You're so stuck in this romantic notion you've created in your head that you don't even realize what you've lost. I would have given you the world, but now I'm going to move on. I'll find someone who will appreciate me and I'll adore her like no other. I hope that guy you left me for doesn't turn around and do the same to you, because your bad karma will eventually catch up." Matt was beyond pissed and just wanted to scream at her but he wouldn't, that wasn't him, he just wanted to be done with this so he could finally file her away into his past.

"Matty, please don't be so angry. I still want to be friends, I still want what's best for you."

Matt started laughing. "Are you serious? I don't want to be your friend. I don't want anything from you. You are no longer part of my life. I want nothing to do with you beyond knowing your family. I'm so glad Kat is nothing like you. So let me make myself clear. This is the last conversation I want with you; don't ask about me and don't call me. Everything you have of mine, toss it, burn it, I could care less cause I don't want it back. Everything I have of yours I'll give to Kat. You can honestly go screw yourself. We're done from this point." He hung up before she could say anything.

He had half a mind to throw his cell against the wall, but he held back. His phone started ringing and he saw it was Elena and ignored it and immediately blocked the number. When he said he didn't want her in his life anymore, he really meant it.

He took a few deep cleansing breath's and called Caroline, he knew she'd want to hear everything that happened and she'd find out sooner or later anyways. "Hey Care, do you think you could come over? I finally called Elena and let's just say I wasn't myself."

"Aw Matty, I'll be there in 15." She got there in ten.

As soon as he opened the door, she pulled him into a big hug and he just smiled. "So what happened? You didn't grovel did you? I'll kick your ass if you did." She set her stuff down on his counter and turned to him.

"Of course not. Actually I kinda went off on her a little. I told her to stay out of my life and that she basically wouldn't exist to me anymore. Then I hung up on her and blocked her number." Matt looked at her sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh my god Matty, I'm kinda impressed. Didn't think you had it in you to tell her to stick it where the sun don't shine." Caroline laughed and hugged him again. "Okay, so what do you want to do now."

"Actually I was hoping you could help me get rid of all her stuff and then give the rest to Kat." Matt grabbed a water bottle and looked at Caroline.

"Uh, hell yeah I'm helping you purge. Hand me a water bottle and lets get started. We'll make two piles. One to send to her and another to throw away." Caroline put her hair up in a loose bun and they got to work.

They finished pretty quickly and put all of the stuff they would give to Kat in a box. Everything else Matt took to the dumpster. There where a couple of things that Elena had gotten him that he couldn't get rid of, at least not until they moved to New York. He erased anything that remotely reminded him of her from his computer, cellphone and life.

"Alright we're done. I have to get back to make mom some dinner. Don't forget to pack for New York, and you need one set of your best formal wear, cause you are going out with us to that club." Caroline picked up her purse and pulled out her keys and went to the door. Before she closed the door she turned and smiled at Matt. "I'm proud of you."

Matt smiled back. "Thanks mom," he said sarcastically and she smirked and shut the door. Everything that was Elena had literally been placed in a box and he felt good. He could finally move on and it was a weight off his shoulders. He was looking forward to New York.

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"Yes, thank you. I will speak to my brother, I'm sure he will greatly appreciate this opportunity. And Tessa, thank you once more for letting me speak with you about this." Elijah ended the call and started thinking about how to approach Klaus about finally displaying his art in a professional setting. He got up from his desk and left his office in search of said younger sibling.

He found him in his studio, wrapping a painting to send out. "Have you finished the landscape?"

Klaus turned to look at him as he continue to wrap. "Yes, I'm finally done. It took me much too long, I was just not that interested in finishing it whatsoever." He pursed his lips and set down the painting to look for the shipment box.

"Well don't let that stop you from taking on more work. You may think these commission pieces aren't worth it, but they get your name out there, and become examples of the many styles you can create." Elijah placed his hands in his pocket and stood near some of his recent work and admired them. "I have some promising news for you." He looked over at Klaus again.

"Hm, what is it?" Klaus placed the painting in the box and sealed it.

"I spoke with Tessa and showed her some of your work." Klaus' head shot up. "She is curating an exhibit for up and coming artists at the Saatchi Gallery and would love to meet with you."

Klaus was so angry as he looked at Elijah. "You had no right! I decide when I want to show my work and who I want to show it to." He wasn't actually angry at his brother, more than anything he was scared, he didn't think his work was good enough yet. He did want to show his work just for people to hate it.

Elijah sighed, "You are the one that put me in charge of managing your work. I believe it's time to show it to the masses, BUT it is still your work Niklaus. That is why I am letting you know that Tessa would like to speak with you. I do not wish to make you feel rushed into this, but I believe in you and Tessa made it clear that she loved what she saw."

Klaus was at a loss, he looked down at his hands still holding the package he was about to send out, contemplating whether he should take this chance. This is after all what he's been striving for, to have is art on a wall where people can admire it and discuss it. He wasn't sure if people would gravitate to his work, but if he didn't take this opportunity then he might never get another. He looked back up at Elijah. "Okay, set up the meeting, I have to at least try."

Elijah smiled and nodded his head. "She already loves your work Niklaus, I doubt the meeting will be nothing more than a formality as well as letting you know what it is they will need of you for the exhibit. I will call her immediately."

Klaus grunted and nodded, he turned around once more, as Elijah retreated. He was overthinking every piece he had created recently, wondering if he would be able to use any of them or if he was going to have to create something new and if he did, would it be something he actually wanted to do.

He pursed his lips and huffed. There was no point in putting any thoughts into this until he talked with Tessa, so for once he put it out of his mind.

He finished closing the package up and wrote down the address he needed to send it to and grabbed his keys. He headed to the garage and saw Elijah speaking on the phone.

Elijah held up his hand to him, asking to wait a bit so Klaus stopped. "Yes, I'll see if he can, hold on." Elijah placed the call on hold and looked at Klaus, "Tessa would like to know if you would be available to meet today if possible, the exhibit is coming up and she thinks it would be more prudent if you meet sooner rather than later. That way you'll have time to paint, if you need it."

"Sure, I have nothing of importance today, other than mailing this painting out." Klaus was a little nervous for this meeting but he'd rather get it over and done with.

Elijah picked up the phone call again, "Yes, he can meet today. What time? 2 o'clock?" He looked at Klaus and he said yes. "Okay, Klaus will be there at 2. It was nice to talk with you Tessa, I hope to see you soon."

Klaus looked at Elijah. "I've got to mail this out before it gets too late, then I'll head over to meet Tessa. Just text me the address."

Klaus walked to his Range Rover and placed the painting in the back. As he backed out he got the text with Tessa's address. Once he was at the post office, he looked up directions to Tessa's office. It actually wasn't to far from where he was at so he was a bit relieved.

Klaus double checked that he had put the right mailing address on the package and got all the possible protection he could and sent the painting to the buyer. Once that was done, he headed straight to his meeting.

Tessa's office was located in Chelsea, not to far from the Saatchi Gallery. When he walked into the building he told the receptionist he had a meeting with Tessa and she told him to take a seat. He only had to wait five minutes before she came out.

"Klaus, it's so wonderful to meet you." Klaus stood up and shook her hand. "Elijah has told so much about you. Please come in, so we can discuss the exhibit." She motioned for him to follow.

She had a few paintings decorated around the room as well as her many accomplishments. She sat down behind her desk and pointed to the chair so he could sit.

"I am so glad you decided to be a part of the exhibit I'm putting together. I absolutely loved the work Elijah showed me. We're looking to showcase new artists around the London area, nothing specific in style because we really want an eclectic collection. Now, you wouldn't be one of the featured artists so you would be sharing a wall, but we do want a 3 piece set, so it will still put your name out there. We need the set to be cohesive, in a sense, but they don't need to complement any other work that'll be shown."

Klaus thought about it for a moment. "I'll most likely already have 3 pieces that I can show together but it might be best if I just take a picture of everything I'm willing to display and you can choose, seeing as how you know who will be there and what people might like the most."

"I can do that." She smiled at him. "If there's any piece you want to display for sure though, let me know and then I can suggest the other 2 that could compete the set."

Klaus agreed and then stood, he shook her hand and bid her farewell, then drove home. He had a lot of work to do. As soon as he was home, he went straight to his studio to pull the pieces he thought were best for display and took a picture to catalog them. In the middle of taking a snapshot Rebekah walked in.

"What are you doing?" She stood there watching him take pictures of some of his work.

He turned to look at her for a second. "I'm cataloging some of my work. Elijah got me into an exhibit that's going to be held at the Saatchi Gallery and I need 3 pieces that will work together."

Rebekah gasped and gave him a huge smile. "Oh my god Nik that's amazing, can I help?"

"Sure, just take pictures of every piece over there," he pointed to the wall in his right.

"Okay, are these all, or do you have more in your studio apartment?" She moved each canvas to the floor so she could take as many pictures as quickly as possible.

"Not that many. I usually bring all my completed work here since there isn't that much space over there. I think I probably have less than a dozen over there, and most of those I wouldn't want to show since they're my personal collection." At the rate they where going, they'd be done a lot quicker than he thought.

"Oh, well I'm almost done on this side, do you want me to move onto the next pile?" She looked over at him.

"Yes, I need to go through them after, to see which 3 go well together." He started thinking about it as he finished with his own pile and walked over to the last stack. There was at least 1 painting he knew for sure he wanted to show, so he thought it would be easier to pick the other 2 that would balance that one out.

Ten minutes later and they where done. Klaus took the memory cards of both cameras and went to his laptop to upload them and go through them. He thanked Rebekah and started going through everything looking at all the combinations. The actual choosing would be the hard part, he thought he might even have to sleep on it, but at least he wasn't nervous anymore. If anything he felt exhilarated, he was finally getting his chance.


	4. Chapter 3

**Okay guys, I am so sorry for taking so long. I'm trying to stay ahead as I post each chapter, so I don't want to post anything if I don't at least have something planned out. As for questions about when they're gonna meet; I have maybe 2 more chapters to go, then the 1st time jump, then they'll meet. I'm going to try to have them meet by the end of the time jump, but if it doesn't flow then it'll be the chapter after. Also, if you can't tell, the time lines are a little off. That's why I'm jumping around more in Klaus' timeline, while Caroline's is a bit more straightforward. I'm catching him up to her timeline, so you get a sense of what's gone on in his life. Caroline has pretty much always had a perfect life, even her parents divorce was amicable and the kids were better for it. Klaus has had to deal with much more so we're getting glimpses until they meet.**

 **Okay, you waited long enough, here's the next chapter.**

 **And thank you soooooo much for all the likes/follows/reviews. It really makes me feel great that I finally put this out there.**

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The day of the exhibit opening, became one of the most nerve racking days for Klaus. Although he wanted to know what people thought about his work, he was also worried about it too. One of the pieces he'd chosen to show was the one he'd been working on when Henrik had gotten injured. He hadn't wanted to show it at first, but Elijah convinced him it would be a hit. This was his first big showing so he didn't expect much, but Klaus hoped people at least liked his work or found it interesting. All of his siblings were there except for Henrik because he was too young.

"Stop pacing Nik, everyone is going to love your work." Rebekah was looking around at all the other artists' work. She knew there would be a lot of media and art people so she planned on networking. To impress those that mattered, she wore one of her black vintage Mary Quant lace dresses with some Alexander McQueen heels, hoping to make it onto someone's best dressed. She had her pin straight blond hair parted to the side and pinned to the back and wore a natural fresh faced makeup.

Klaus couldn't really hear any of them; above everything else he would hear Mikael's voice, telling him he was worthless. "I'm fine, just leave me be sweetheart. Go mingle." Rebekah frowned but left, she knew he'd only get mad at her if she kept trying to comfort him. Klaus stood just a bit away from where his work was being displayed and kept trying to hear what people thought of it. He ran his hand through his hair and just kept pacing.

Elijah was talking to the Tessa about possibly getting more of Klaus' work displayed during the next couple of exhibits while Kol was going around flirting with every girl he found remotely attractive. Most of them could see him coming a mile away so they just brushed off his advances.

Klaus had drank a glass or two of wine and was finally able to relax half way into opening night. After a couple of hours, the place had become filled with all kinds of art enthusiasts. One person in particular became enamored with Klaus' paintings and sought him out.

"Nik!" Rebekah walked over to him, turned and waved someone over to them. "I want you to meet someone."

A man stepped up to them and extended his hand to Klaus. "Hello Mr. Mikaelson, my name is Alaric Saltzman. I'm an Art History professor at NYU and I was looking to buy one, if not all, of your pieces tonight."

Klaus's eyes widened and he looked at Alaric in shock. He really hadn't expected to sell any of his work that night, let alone all of them. He looked at Rebekah who was grinning at him. "Um, yes, of course. My brother is the one who deals with the sales but I'm sure we can give you a deal purchasing all three." Klaus turned to Rebekah and told her to bring Elijah.

"I think your paintings are absolutely amazing. Very emotional and complex. Your brush stokes are powerful and your use of minimal colors really brings out the turmoil." As soon as Alaric had seen the pieces, he knew he had to have them. He was very impressed by Klaus and the fact that he was so young, yet his paintings where filled with so much pain; he knew just by looking at his paintings that he'd had a hard life already.

Klaus was taken aback at how much Alaric liked his work, it made him a little self conscious. He even got a little flushed and started rubbing the back of his neck. He wasn't used to compliments from people, other than his siblings. "Thank you, you're too kind." He smiled shyly at Alaric. "So you're an art professor?"

"Yeah, I mostly teach art history and photography. I originally wanted to be a photo journalist, but decided against it and have been teaching for 2 years now. I still do photography on the side and own a small shop near NYU. Although I teach more about the classics, I personally love modern abstract art more. I love being able to make my own interpretation of what the artist is trying to convey." He placed one of his hands in his suite pocket.

Klaus nodded his head and turned when he felt Elijah pat his shoulder. "Elijah, this is Mr. Saltzman."

Alaric smiled and shook Elijah's hand. "Please, call me Alaric. You guys are going to make me feel old."

Elijah and Klaus chuckled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. So, you wish to procure all of Niklaus' work from tonights exhibit. We can of course negotiate the price for all three. I don't usually like to discuss sales in public but if you are looking to buy right away - I believe we can come to an agreement."

Alaric nodded his head then furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Well although you're a relatively new artist, I really like your work and I just know you will break through, I can just feel it in my gut, so I am willing to pay higher than most. On the condition that you seek me out when you have new pieces that you think I'd like."

Alaric just kept surprising Klaus. It's one thing to like one or two paintings, but to actually say that he believed he'd make it big. He looked at Elijah and nodded in agreement which made Alaric ecstatic so he gave them a huge smile.

"I didn't price them because I'm never sure what they're worth other than to myself. Elijah has been giving them a set price by size, but my latest is very important to me. If you want that one then it would be priced differently." Klaus was firm on this point.

"That's fine, that one is actually my favorite so I'd gladly pay more. Just give me a total for all three and we'll see if we need to negotiate."

"Well all three pieces are done with oil and are 30x60. Also, your favorite was done on wood instead of regular canvas. As we've priced them so far, the two regular pieces are $2500 each and the wood one is $4000."

Alaric thought about it a bit. "Well since I'm getting all three, how about we say an even 10 grand and you'll have the money by tonight. I'm giving you a bit more because I want first access to any new stuff you make."

Elijah looked at Klaus and they agreed. Klaus smiled at Alaric and took his hand. "Looks like we have a deal. Thank you, this was the most unexpected sell. I really didn't think anyone would even like my work."

Alaric smirked on at him and patted him on the shoulder. "Well I did, and I'm looking forward to your growth as an artist. I'm happy I'll be able to tell people that I have some of your first big pieces. Send me the account you want me to wire the money to and I'll have someone pick up the paintings when the exhibit is over later in the week." Alaric handed Elijah his business card.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you and we will most definitely contact you when Niklaus has any new work you'd find interesting. Enjoy the rest of the evening." Elijah shook Alaric's hand before he left then turned to Klaus and smiled. "Congratulations on your first big sale Niklaus. I believe this calls for a celebration with the family."

"Nik! Oh my god, Alaric just told me, I'm so proud of you." She threw herself at him and gave him a huge hug. "Alaric said he'd keep in touch, he even told me that if I'm ever in New York he'll introduce me to some photographers that would love to work with me. Guess you're not the only one who made a connection." She smirked at her brothers.

Elijah gave her a smile then looked around. "Where's Kol? We should go celebrate this occasion. Not only did Niklaus sell his work but Tessa says the owners of the gallery were impressed by all the good reviews and wish to place your work in a few more upcoming events."

Klaus was grinning like a fool. He very rarely shared one of his genuine dimpled smiles, but everything had worked out better than he'd hoped for and he couldn't wait to start painting some more.

Kol came up behind Klaus and clapped him on the back. "Congrats brother, I just heard. What are we still doing here? Lets go have a proper celebratory party or something."

Klaus and Elijah said their goodbyes to Tessa and they went home. Henrik was already asleep but Kol decided they should open a bottle of champagne in honor of Klaus. Even if he was planning on drinking half the bottle all by himself.

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"Care! Hurry up! Bonnie and Kat are already here!" Matt had already put his, Bonnie's, and Kat's bags in the car and they'd been waiting for her for the past 15 minutes.

Caroline huffed. She'd had everything organized until a few hours ago when she decided to recheck everything, which led to switching out some clothes. Now she was making them late, and she hated being late. "I'm coming!" Zipping up her bags. "Can you help me carry the heavy bag!"

Matt rolls his eyes and runs upstairs. He sees Caroline carrying one bag as she points to the other. He goes to pick it up expecting her to have exaggerated. "Jesus, what the hell did you pack Care? Bricks?"

Caroline smirks and smacks him lightly. "Oh, shut it. I'm taking some beauty supplies for us girls to get ready."

"Some! You girls are too high maintenance sometimes." Matt yells as he jogs down the stairs.

"Not funny Matty Blue-Blue." Katherine narrows her eyes at him. "We look good and you know it," she pokes his chest. "And this," she points to her whole body, "takes proper time and effort."

Matt scoffs at her and turns to the front door. "Come on, we gotta go if we want to make it on time."

As they head out to the car, Matt puts Caroline's bags in the trunk. The girls decided they would drive the first few hours and then Matt would take over until they got to New York. Bonnie took the first shift to get it over with. They didn't want to take anymore time than was needed to get to New York, so they only stopped to eat, use the restroom or switch drivers. The girls switched off about every hour until it was Matt's turn. By that time, it was already around 4 in the morning and the girls had decided to get some sleep.

After a couple of hours Caroline woke up and they were nearing the city. She looked at it in awe and pulled out her phone to take some pictures; It looked so beautiful.

"Hey sleepy head, you're up. Good, maybe you can help me with the directions. Can't drive and look at them around here, too many crazy drivers." Matt was focused on not crashing their car. Even though it was still early and there wasn't that much traffic yet, he had already had to avoid a couple of crazy New York cabs that flew by him.

Caroline chuckled and pulled out the map they had printed and then rechecked on her phone to make sure. "Okay, we don't have that much more. We just need to stay on East New Jersey Turnpike until it turns into 12th street then turns into Holland Tunnel. I'll give you more directions when we get closer." She looked up and searched for her camera to take some more pictures then turned around in her seat to look at the girls still sleeping. She smiled wickedly and took some pictures of them.

"You're dead if those ever see the light of day Care." Katherine yawned and glared at Caroline.

Caroline just started laughing and stuck her tongue out. "Yeah, right. Wake Bonnie up so she doesn't miss the bridge." She turned back in her seat to look out the window and check the GPS again. She heard Bonnie yawn and shift while she stretched. "Okay Matty, after the bridge we have to stay on Holland Tunnel until we go around this circle and we turn right on the second exit. Then we're gonna turn right again onto Hudson and keep going until it turns into 8th Ave. Kat we're gonna be walking a little since they don't have a garage. We have to park the car in a parking structure then walk to the apartment, so don't complain."

Katherine pouted and Bonnie giggled at her. They were all getting really excited as they crossed the bridge into Manhattan. Matt couldn't really take in the sights though because he was too focused on driving, but he was still just as excited. He wanted to park the car already so he could finally look at everything. Caroline rattled off a couple more directions and it didn't take them long until they were finally parked and out of the car.

Matt stretched and rolled his neck. "Man I'm tired. I'm taking a nap before we head out again once we're in the apartment." He fought off a yaw and opened the trunk. Each of the girls pulled out their small suitcase and Matt grabbed his large duffle bag and Caroline's bag of beauty products.

Caroline pulled out her phone and looked at the map once they were outside the building. "Okay, we only need to walk up like a block and we're there. Let me text the owner so he can meet us there."

Instead of booking a hotel and spending thousands of dollars for 3 days, Caroline had rented out someone's apartment for the weekend through a website. She thought it would make them feel like they actually lived in New York. They weren't expecting the place to be a five star accommodation but at least the girls each had their own bed. Matt would be sleeping in the pullout sofa in the living room.

As they walked to the apartment they all took pictures. Caroline made them stop and take a group self shot and she smiled. This would be their first picture up when they found their own future apartment.

They saw a girl waiting outside the address they were heading to and they assumed it was one of the owners. She seemed pretty young for someone to own a 3 bedroom apartment in Chelsea; she was probably no older than 25. She was wearing a black and white stripped tight t-shirt and black shinny jeans. When she saw them, she waved at them and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Meredith. So you four are the ones that are going to be staying here?"

"Yeah we're visiting to look at some apartments around the area, we're going to be attending NYU. I'm Caroline, these are my friends Bonnie and Katherine, and that's my brother Matt." Caroline pointed them all out and smiled at Meredith.

"Oh that's so awesome. My fiancé is actually the owner of this place, he's actually an art history professor at NYU, small world. He had to go to London for a short trip to help one of his protégés, that's why he couldn't be here to show you guys the place, so I'll be the one to take you up instead. There's no doorman but there are two doors you have to get through. You'll have two sets of keys in case you need to separate." They went through the entrance and walked through the lobby to the elevator and got in. "The apartment is on the 4th floor and there's only 6 apartments on each floor so you won't have a problem knowing which one it is." When the elevator dinged, they stepped out and walked to the first door on their left. She opened the door and they all set their bags down as soon as they walked in. "You have the living room with the pullout sofa, a TV that's hooked up to the internet so you can use it as a computer and you have your own full kitchen. The rooms are all pretty much the same except the master has its own bathroom. We have a laundry facility downstairs, which you don't have to pay for. We left you a folder with instructions for all the appliances and a card for the laundry, plus some recommended places for sight seeing and restaurants if you have time. If you have any other questions, we left you both of our phone numbers. It'll probably be easier to call me until he gets back from his trip. My fiancé should be back tomorrow night, so he'll probably be the one to receive the keys from you when you leave, unless there's a change in plans, but I'll let you know ahead of time." She smiled at them and they said their thanks and she wished them a happy weekend and left.

As soon as she was out the door Matt dropped onto the sofa and fell asleep while the girls took their things to the rooms. After putting everything away the girls decided to take a quick nap too.

At 10 the girls got up and changed into more comfortable clothes because it was getting hotter. When they were done they went into the living room and decided to get something to eat at the fashion district so they could shop a little. Caroline had made a list of things they could do and they all decided together that they wouldn't tire themselves out early since they wanted to go to a club later in the evening so they would only sight see a few of the more famous points.

They woke Matt up and he took a quick 5 minute shower and put on some cargo shorts and a loose t-shirt. As soon as he was ready, they headed out.

Since the Fashion District was really close, they decided to just walk there. On their way they stopped to eat at Spinelli's Pizzeria. They ordered a breakfast pizza with ham and sausage and for dessert they got cannoli's and some fried oreos. They were stuffed and glad that they would be spending the day walking off the heavy meal.

The Fashion District turned out to be even bigger than the girls imagined. They only went to a couple of stores since Matt was with them. After they shopped, they went to Times Square and took some pictures. Caroline was having so much fun with her new camera. They were all in awe of how many people there were and how tall the buildings were. All of them excluding Katherine had traveled by this point, but New York was something completely different. Everything moved at such a fast pace and they were so used to the slow life from Mystic Falls.

Bonnie turned and saw the wax museum. "Look! I want to go to Madame Tussaud's. We can take silly pictures with the wax celebrities." She grinned and pulled them along. After taking a bunch of hilarious pictures with the wax figures, they walked to the Rockefeller building and decided to do The Top of the Rock so they could take some pictures of the city. They decided their last stop would be at the MoMA and then they'd head back to the apartment to get ready to go out that evening.

Matt had never cared about art, but after backpacking across South America he had grown to appreciate what people created using their imagination. Of course he was much more drawn to the famous pieces more so than the modern abstract ones. The one piece they all loved and felt mesmerized by was Van Gogh's The Starry Night.

Katherine tilted her head and scrunched her face. "It's way smaller than I expected."

Caroline smiled and turned to look at her. "Yeah, but its still so beautiful and vibrant. The way he saw the world so colorful yet he was in so much pain, it's amazing. I think he's probably in my top five all time favorite artists."

"It's kind of magical the way he let the objects and colors flow into each other." Just looking at it made Bonnie feel at peace. Matt nodded and agreed wit.

They kept looking at it for another few minutes then started walking through the rest of the exhibits. Matt loved Jackson Pollock's piece and had Caroline take a picture of him in front of it. It was kind of funny because it made him look small for once. They had a late lunch at the MoMA's Cafe 2 and then walked back to the apartment. It was time to get ready for their first night out in New York.

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"Remember if any of you want to come over to New York, I would be glad to show you guys around and I definitely want to introduce you to some important people that could help launch your art career in the states Klaus. It may not be immediate but it would certainly be faster than doing it on your own. In fact, I think if you give me a few weeks to get in contact with a few people I could potentially get someone here to help you start." Alaric wanted to push Klaus out of his comfort zone and help him grow as an artist.

Klaus had been talking with Alaric ever since the day after the exhibit. He was grateful to him for not only buying his work but for believing in him and his potential. He had called Alaric to let him know that they had finally shipped the art to his New York home.

For Klaus, meeting Alaric was by far the best thing that had happened to him and his career so far. "I just don't know where to start with thanking you for taking a chance on me. I would gladly take any advice or help you could offer. And I'll be sure to take you up on that offer to visit as soon as I can. I've actually been meaning to explore the art world that New York offers. Elijah said that he personally saw to the pieces you bought. They should arrive by the time you land, and I do hope that you still love them once you see them again."

"Oh, I trust you guys and of course I'll still love the pieces. I'll call you soon to let you know about what I can do for you in London."

"Thank you again and I'll let you know when I'm done with a new piece. Have a safe trip and talk to you soon." Klaus hung up and just stood there. He smiled and turned when he heard Kol and Rebekah enter the house, bickering like children.

"I can't believe you did that Kol! Are you bloody mad?!" Rebekah stormed through the door, Kol following, and went into the sitting room.

"What?! You're my baby sister Bekah, did you really think I would let you throw yourself at that daft chav." Kol rolled his eyes at Klaus while he sat down on one of the sofas. "I mean really sister are you that desperate now." Kol shook his head.

Rebekah's eyes bulged. She was going to throttle him, she started towards him but Klaus stopped her. As entertaining as this was he didn't have time to deal with them. "Just let it go Bekah. Kol, go do something somewhere else, I don't want to be playing referee to your antics today, let Bekah be."

Kol sighed and pouted but got up and started to head out of the room. "Why am I getting booted, its not my fault our little sister is a strumpet."

"Argh! Self righteous wanker!" Rebekah huffed, grabbed a pillow and threw it at his head before he was out the door.

Klaus just shook his head and looked at her in a amusement. "You know it's your own fault for letting him goad you like that, Bekah."

Rebekah pouted and sat down. "I love Kol but I can only stand him for so long. When do you think he's leaving?"

Klaus laughed and sat down next to her. "Oh don't be such a brat, you know you'd miss him as soon as he left. We're all hoping he'll stay longer than last time, don't pretend like you haven't been having fun since he's been around." He pulled her into his side.

"I know but why does he have to be such an arse sometimes. Especially when it comes to me and boys, I hardly date anyone and yet he goes and makes a fool out of me in front of someone that actually likes me. He's the one that's always trotting around a different girl every other week." Rebekah sighed and then looked at Klaus and smiled. "Enough about him, how are things going with Alaric."

Klaus grinned and let go of Rebekah. "Things are going even better than I dreamed of, he's going to connect me with someone here in London to help guide me. Hopefully this will open even more doors than the exhibit did. Apparently Tessa has been talking to Elijah, the gallery wants me for at least another 2 more exhibits."

Rebekah smiled at him. "I knew you'd get there eventually Nik. I just wish you'd believe in yourself more."

Klaus sighed, he didn't want to get into this with Rebekah again. "Well, I think that's my queue to leave. I'm going to take Henrik to lunch, then he has an appointment to start his shoulder rehab."

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Fine Nik, but don't think this is the last time I'll say this," she called out to his retreating form.

Klaus turned back around and looked at Rebekah. "And just so you know, any one of us would have done the same thing that Kol did. He may be a prat at times but you're our baby sister, our only sister. We're always going to be overprotective of you because we only want the best for you. If this dollop of a guy couldn't handle Kol by himself then how are we supposed to trust him to take care of you against the world. When you find the right man that deserves you, you'll know it because we'll know it."

Klaus turned back around and went upstairs to Henrik's room, leaving Rebekah stunned on the sofa. He came up to Henrik's room and nocked on the door and went in. Henrik was sitting at his desk looking at his laptop and turned to Klaus.

"Hey," he greeted Klaus.

Klaus sat on the edge of the bed. "Hey, get ready. You have rehab session so we're gonna go eat beforehand."

"Ok, let me just finish this, I'm making a playlist for April." Henrik grinned at Klaus and then finished choosing the songs and sent it to April.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "I just don't understand what you see in her, she's quite bland from what I've seen."

Henrik scowled at Klaus. "You don't know her, you shouldn't make any assumptions, I think she's amazing. That's really all that matters, you're not the one trying to date her."

Klaus raised his hands in defense. "Well okay, I'm sorry if I offended you or your relationship with Miss Young."

"Whatever. I know you dislike being in a relationship Nik, but that doesn't mean I'm going to follow in your footsteps. I may get hurt in the process but I think it's worth it in the end."

Klaus became a little flustered being called out by his baby brother but he let it roll of him. He never wanted his brother to become as jaded as he was when it came to trusting in a relationship. "You're right, I'm truly sorry." He looked up at Henrik and changed the subject. "Now, hurry up or we're not going to have enough time to eat."

Klaus and Henrik got up and headed downstairs. Rebekah asked them to bring her something when they came back and were on their way home.

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When Caroline said they would be going out, they all knew what they where in for. So of course they where going to have to dress in style. She had chosen a fancy jazz club to go to, so they went for a sophisticated look.

Matt didn't truly care, as always, so he knew he would wear what Caroline packed for him. He knew his sister, she'd have a fit if he just wore whatever was in his closet, so she packed one of the best shirts and pants his dad had bought him for a special occasion. And although the girls had originally brought something to wear from back home, they had each found better dresses while shopping earlier, to wear that night.

Matt didn't start getting ready till after the girls had showered since he knew they would take long. He took a shower, put a little gel in his hair while it was still a little wet, then changed into his Armani slim fit black slacks and his dark blue grey buttoned down Armani shirt. He brushed his teeth and put some cologne on and he was done in under an hour, and still, he had to wait for the girls.

The girls had a routine to follow, so as soon as they had gotten into the apartment they had hung up their dresses and taken out all of the makeup and hair products to have them ready. They each took a shower, shaved, and then went into Katherine's room - it was the biggest. They dressed, fix their hair and then finally put on their makeup.

Katherine had been the first in the shower because she took the longest. Caroline and Bonnie would take less time because they had both washed their hair earlier. They were both done by the time Katherine came out. Katherine semi dried her hair then they began doing their makeup. Bonnie and Caroline went for more neutral colors and a vibrant lip whereas Katherine did a dark smokey eye and a light pink lip.

As soon as that was done they started working on each others hair. Caroline chose to put her hair in a messy low bun with a few curly tendrils pulled out in front to frame her face. Bonnie smoothed her hair and pulled it to the side and then added some waves to the ends. Katherine went for a messy half up-half down Bridget Bardot look. Once the hair and makeup was done, they put on the dresses they'd bought earlier.

Caroline had chosen a simple black semi-fitted Blumarine dress that fell right above the knee. The black fabric came all the way up creating a small sweetheart neckline and then turned into a very sheer black fabric with white dots scattered across that came to a quarter sleeve; it also had a little rueshing on the right hip. She wore it with her 5 inch black classic toe Jimmy Choo pumps.

Bonnie had wanted to buy a long black off brand dress but Katherine convinced her to let her and Caroline buy her the Calvin Klein slim fitted black sleeveless dress. It had a mock neck and was made of hand beaded knit silk. It had tubular beads applied in a chevron pattern down the center front that concealed back zipper. She paired it with some 4 inch Jimmy Choo black suede point toe pumps.

Katherine's dress was a little more daring. She bought a white skin tight mini-dress by Balmain that had a low laced up v-neck with long sleeves. It was made from textured material with a pattern that accentuated her tiny wait.

Outside the girls room Matt was starting to get impatient. "Are you guys ready!" He yelled and banged on the door. "It's almost 6, sheesh!"

"Shut it, Matty!" Katherine grumbled.

Bonnie laughed as she came out. "They're almost done."

Matt raised his eyebrows as his eyes widened. "Damn Bon, you look hot." Bonnie was like a sister to him so it was kind of weird seeing her in a different light. She never really dressed sexy like Katherine did. She was always a comfort over fashion kind of girl and he knew wearing those heels must not be comfortable at all.

Bonnie blushed and looked down shyly. "Thanks Matt. Katherine picked it out."

"Of course I did, you wanted to wear this hideous of label dress." Katherine said as she slipped on her 4 and a half inch Alexander McQueen white leather sporty lace up booties. "What about me, how do I look?" She spun around for Matt to see.

Matt shrugged. "You look fine." She looked extremely hot, even making him feel a little uncomfortable about thinking about her that way, especially since Elena never dressed liked that for him. But he didn't want to tell her that and let her ego get any bigger than it already was.

Katherine huffed and pouted at his reply. She knew he was being stubborn. "Liar! Caroline, get your sexy ass out here."

"Ugh, please don't call my baby sister sexy in front of me. It's bad enough I'm going out with you guys and there's probably gonna be guys trying to hit on you, and I'm going to have to try to not punch them." Matt was dreading the response of the male crowd towards the girls.

"Oh Matty you know you don't have to worry about us, well, me and Bonnie at least." Caroline stated as she finally came out looking fabulous and smiled at all of them. Katherine smirked and Bonnie giggled.

The girls grabbed their clutches and Katherine led them out. "Okay time to hit the road. And you should relax Matt, we're going to a jazz club not a club club. Besides I'm not planning on picking up any boys tonight, we have to leave early for our apartment showings tomorrow."

Matt locked the door and followed the girls into the elevator. Caroline took out her phone to check the time.

"Okay the car should be here any minute. I set it up when we got in, and like Kat said we can't stay up the whole night."

They only had to wait outside a few minutes; when the car got there and they filed in. The driver confirmed if they still wanted to go to the Flatiron Room and Caroline said yes. Her phone said it only took a little over 5 minutes by car but they were not willing to walk there wearing those dresses and those heels.

As soon as they entered the club a couple of guys turned to stare at the girls and Matt glared at them immediately. Caroline didn't pay attention, she was to busy talking to Bonnie about the ambiance and the look of the club; It was more of a restaurant and pub with some bands. Katherine smiled at some of the guys then turned to Matt and smirked. Matt rolled his eyes at her and led them all to a free booth. The girls sat down and he went to the bar to get them drinks. Since he was a bartender himself he knew how to sneak the girls some drinks.

He got them some regular diet cokes and himself a whiskey and the girls ordered some appetizers. One by one he switched their cokes for rum and cokes. They weren't trying to get drunk so they sipped their drinks and listened to the live bands. Matt got another whiskey neat, sipped it and then stuck to beers after that.

Bonnie was grinning at them while she swayed her head to the music. "I'm really loving this places, I think we may have found a good hangout when we move here. What time is the first apartment showing again, Caroline?"

Caroline turned around to face Bonnie. "At 11 am. We'll leave in about an hour or so and I definitely will want to hangout here." Matt agreed and she smiled at them.

"Yeah we're so doing girls night here, there's some pretty hot, and going by their clothes, rich and hopefully single guys here." Katherine stated as she eye flirted with one guy at the bar.

"Hey, you said you weren't picking up tonight!" Matt nudged her.

Katherine broke eye contact and turned around to look at him and laughed. "I can't help it. He's hot, I'm a natural flirt and I'm single."

Matt just shrugged and shook his head while the girls giggled. He started checking out some of the girls around but he just wasn't in the mood to deal with any more women. Although he had closed the chapter with Elena, he had been with her for so long that he thought a break from any relationship would do him some good. He wanted to just work on getting his life in order before he dove into any kind of relationship. But he was never one for casual relationships.

They ate the appetizers they'd ordered and listened to the bands that played and talked about when exactly they wanted to move. They knew they wanted to be moved in beforehand so they could find jobs as well. Matt needed to know so he could put his two weeks notice and look for another bartending job near their new apartment. They decided they'd start moving the little things as soon as possible and that Matt would help but he would only help during his days off until his two weeks were up.

Caroline and Bonnie ignored the couple of guys that tried to hit on them but Katherine took a few phone numbers and got a free drink. Most of the guys didn't try to come up to the table directly because Matt would glare at them. It was quite hilarious for the girls to watch and they tried to guess who actually had the guts to come up to them.

By the time Caroline looked at her phone again, it was already 10:30PM. "Matt can you go close the tab and pay so we can leave in a bit." Matt nodded his head and went to the bar to pay.

"Dude, you are one lucky guy to be surrounded by so many beautiful women." the guy next to him stated.

"Excuse me?" Matt turned to look at who was talking to him. The guy had dark hair that looked almost black and brown eyes. He was wearing an expensive suit and a big classic leather round Armani watch. Although he was wearing a suit you could see he was a well built guy and probably went to the gym every day.

"I said your lucky to be around all those hot women." He smiled at Matt while checking out the girls.

For some reason he actually liked this guy even though he was checking out his sister and her two best friends. Matt turned to look at his table. "Not really. The blonde is my sister and the other 2 are her friends since preschool, so their practically like sisters to me."

The guy's eyes widened a little then he laughed and smiled at Matt. "Oh man, sorry, and here I am calling them hot." He laughed a little more but kept looking over at the girls. "My names Tyler by the way." He extended his hand.

Matt shook his hand. "Matt, and don't worry about it, at least your not drooling over them like some of the other guys." They both laughed. Matt signed for the bill, said goodbye to Tyler and headed over to the girls. "Alright lets head out. I'm tired and haven't gotten enough sleep."

They picked up their things and went outside. Matt flagged down a cab and they headed to the apartment. As soon as they got in Matt pulled out one of his sweat pants to change into so he could go to sleep then went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and change. When he came out he set up the sofa bed and nocked out within a couple of minutes.

The girls had to help each other out of their many hairpins and dresses. They changed into some pjays, washed off their makeup and brushed their teeth before they each headed into their respective rooms. Caroline made sure to tell them to be ready by 10 am before they went to sleep and she set up an alarm for herself at 8 am, it was going to be another long day.


	5. Chapter 4

**Ok, I'm finally posting the next chapte. Sorry this takes so long for me, I'm always changing my mind on whether I like something I've written. But I wanted to post this as gift as much for me as for you, cuz it's my birthday today ^_^ got to take the day off and just do nothing of major importance. Did all the things that I love to do, binge watch some TV, buy some comics, and workout. AND finally feel like this chapter is complete. So here you go!**

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Caroline ended up waking before her alarm even went off, so she grabbed her towel and shower gear and headed to the bathroom. She went back to her room and changed into her dark blue Calvin Klein skinny jeans, a tight white tank and pulled out her favorite brown leather cropped jacket and decided to let her hair air dry.

Matt had woken up when he heard Caroline go into the bathroom; when she was done he quickly went in to shower and shave the stubble that had grown. He got out and changed into some relaxed jeans and pulled on a loose burgundy t-shirt then went back to the living room.

Bonnie's alarm woke her up at 8AM, on the dot. She groggily got up to shower then changed into her light blue Levi's and a green tunic. She blow dried her hair straight and pulled it into a high ponytail, then headed to the kitchen. "Morning Matt." Matt turned and smiled at her, she started a pot of coffee then went back to her room to put on a bit of makeup.

Matt had started to make eggs for himself when Caroline had finally come out of her room. "Matty, could you make food for everyone?" He huffed and grumbled, but did it anyways, because he knew it'd be easier than having her nagging about not doing it throughout the day.

By this point, everyone was making so much noise that Katherine couldn't stay asleep even if she tried, so she got up and showered and changed quickly into her skin tight black jeggings and a long purple plunging v-neck spaghetti strap shirt with her black cropped leather jacket. She combed through her hair before she grabbed her hair dryer to tame her loose curls. Katherine put on a dab of curl serum and she was done. She decided to go for a fresh face look so she only put on some neutral eye shadow and mascara then used her tinted lip balm.

By the time she was done, everyone was already at the dinning table sitting down to eat breakfast. Caroline had made her a plate, so Katherine got a mug, grabbed the pot of coffee and poured herself some, then sat down. "Okay so the appointment is at 11 and its only 9:30. At what time are we heading over again?" Katherine looked at Caroline confused, then dug into her food.

Caroline set her fork down and swallowed her eggs before answering. "We'll leave in a half hour. I want to check out the area and the building before we get there, which should be pretty quickly. It's actually not that far from here, so we're walking."

Katherine grimaced but she known she'd be walking a lot today, though that never would've stopped her from wearing a pair of heels. She just needed to choose one of the more comfier ones.

Bonnie laughed at Katherine's face. "Well if its anything like this area and apartment then I'll be happy."

"Yeah, this place is pretty good, just needs another room for me. We should ask Meredith how much she paid for this place. And you guys should ask about her husband. If he works at NYU, you might even get a class with him. Then you can suck up before anyone Care." Matt joked then laughed when he looked up and saw Caroline glaring at him. "What?"

"I'm not a suck up." She stuck out her tongue at him and he chuckled. "But maybe talking to him would be a good idea. He could give us some inside info about the professors and the school itself."

Bonnie giggled. "Maybe, but definitely not today. We have our hands full trying to find an apartment. We should deal with one thing at a time." She finished her meal, then put her dishes and Matt's in the sink. "I'm gonna go put my shoes on and grab my bag."

Caroline nodded her head and grabbed her plate, but before she could get up Katherine moved her plate towards her and gave her a puppy eyed look. Caroline rolled her eyes and took her plate, as well as Katherine's, to the sink.

Katherine smirked, got up from the table and went to her room to grab her purse and heels while Matt went back to the living room to sit on the couch and wait for the girls, as always. Caroline grabbed her bag, her boots and the folder where she had all the information about each apartment they were seeing that day and their surrounding areas. Once Katherine and Bonnie were out of their rooms, they all headed out.

It took them 15 minutes to get to the first apartment that was located in the west part of Chelsea, close to the water and the Meatpacking District. It was a nice area, and Katherine loved that it wasn't too far from the fashion District, but it was also a little too far from NYU for her taste. The other apartments they would be seeing were much closer.

As they walked around the area they saw that it was a very artsy upscale neighborhood and of course Caroline was loving it. They got a snack at a little bistro and by 10:30 they were at the apartment.

The building looked really nice on the outside and Matt thought it looked safe enough, but he didn't like that it was just like Meredith's place - in that you only had to get through the doors by using a key. He thought it would be too easy for someone to sneak in if they wanted to.

Caroline called the owner to let him know that they were downstairs. After a couple of minutes, the owner came down and introduced himself. He took them into the apartment and immediately they were a bit disappointed. It had looked bigger in the pictures. All the rooms were much smaller from what they were used to, especially what would be considered Matt's room. He had his own apartment in Mystic Falls and he wasn't about to give that up for this tiny room.

They were polite and smiled and asked a few questions, but they knew this was a definite no. If they wanted more room in this part of town, they would have to fork over much more money.

"Well that was a bummer." Matt sighed as he held the door for the girls to exit the building.

Bonnie started to play with the ends of her ponytail. "You didn't actually think we were going to be lucky on the first try. We have 4 more apartments and those are closer to NYU. Maybe they'll be more student friendly." She shrugged.

"Yeah, and we won't have to hear Kat complain everyday." Caroline laughed.

Katherine glared at all of them and then held her head high and walked away from them. They all started laughing and ran after her.

They walked to the subway and stared at all the options . They were lucky the next appointment wasn't until 12:30 and since they had gotten through the other apartment fairly quickly, they had more free time than they anticipated.

Luckily Bonnie was smart enough to see if there were any subway apps on her phone to make sense of all the different routes. It didn't take them long to find one and finally hop onto the right line and be on their way. Once they were in the West Village they walked around and shopped a bit.

After an hour they walked over to the apartment building. The building itself looked old, but when they went inside they saw it had been renovated. The owner showed them the apartment, but again, they were disappointed - it seemed that this wasn't a true 4 bedroom apartment. It only had 3 rooms one of which was much bigger and could be converted into a 4th bedroom. They told the owner they'd think about it but he knew it was a no.

The third apartment was in SoHo and they had decided it was a no before they even got to the actual building. It was much too crowded with tourists; Matt felt it wasn't safe enough. When they got to the apartment they were surprised that the apartment itself was actually better than the last two they'd seen. But unfortunately Matt would worry about the girl's safety too much, it also didn't have an elevator, which they had conveniently left out of the description. They told the landlord no right then and there and moved onto the next place.

By this time it was a quarter till 3 and they were feeling a little bummed. Out of 5 apartments, 3 were already major let downs and if the next two apartments weren't good enough either, then they would have to rethink the price and research more apartments, and they wouldn't have much time to do it.

Bonnie suggested they should go have lunch before the next viewing, so they got off at the stop before the apartment building and chose to eat at this Asian restaurant named Momofuku Ssam Bar. They were so used to the Grill being their only real choice for hanging out that having choices on every corner almost overwhelmed them. Momofuku was unlike anything they'd ever seen and the name had just grabbed their attention.

They were seated right away and they looked at the menu. It was a little overwhelming at first because they weren't sure what anything tasted like. They asked the server what they would recommend and they choose to stick with the smaller dishes. Matt got the Cuban Bun, Caroline the Smoked Salmon Bun, Bonnie the Crispy Duck Wings, and Katherine got the Honey Crisp Apple Kimchi. The food turned out to be delicious to say the least and they were all happy they chose to eat something different.

They didn't have that much time to look at the surrounding area before going to the next viewing but just from walking down the street they could tell that this was the type of area they were looking for. It wasn't too far away from the university but it was far enough that it wasn't as crowded as SoHo. The fact that it was in the vicinity of Gramercy Park, also made the area a bit more upscale.

As soon as they saw the building they were ecstatic - it was a brand new building. From the ad they had read, they knew this place had just been built and they were looking to sell or rent the apartments as quickly as possible. The place they were seeing had already been sold to someone but the owner was looking to make money off of it, so they were renting it out. The building had its own security and doorman as well as a gym and swimming pool and rooftop deck for the residents and visitors to hangout in. It also had a garden, a parking garage, free wi-fi, and they said they even had a dry cleaning service. The owner of the apartment also told them that the rent included all of the utilities not including cable. When they entered the place, it was like heaven - these were brand new spaces that hadn't been lived in yet, so everything looked pristine. The owner had staged the apartment so people could see what it could look like once decorated. The bedrooms weren't huge; they could easily fit a queen bed and still have room, but definitely not as much as they were used to. Everything that came included with the building more than made up for it though. Caroline let the owner know that they only had one other place to consider but that this seemed like the likely winner. She asked him if he could hold it until later that day when they would be deciding and the owner told them that would be fine.

Once they left the building the girls became giddy. They were sure that it was the one. It came with so many extras that would save them money overall. The only thing they could see the next place beating this one, was that it was only 2 blocks away from NYU. The girls could walk to their apartment in between classes and never be late. If it was anything close to what this apartment looked like then they would have a tough decision to make.

The appointment was set at 4PM so they wouldn't be out too late when they finally decided on which place they were choosing. The owner met them outside the apartment building, that although wasn't brand new, was well taken care of. Surprisingly it had many of the same amenities as the other building, but one of the things it didn't provide for the residents was parking. That meant that if any of them were planning to bring at least 1 car to drive around the city, they would have to pay a monthly fee for a parking garage.

When they saw the actual apartment that was being rented, they were impressed with the size of it, especially the bedrooms. They were definitely bigger than their #1 choice so far. There was a laundry room on the premise but the residents had to pay for each load and the utilities weren't included in the rent. They told the owner they had to think about it but that they would be deciding before the end of the day.

Once they left the building, they knew they would have a tough choice to make between the last two places. They hailed a cab because Katherine was tired of walking, and they arrived at the place they were staying at. Once inside the apartment, Caroline pulled out the info for their two potential new homes. Matt pulled out some drinks for himself and the girls and they sat in the living room to discuss their decision.

Caroline put the info on the coffee table and looked at everyone. "Okay so the newer apartment was farther and cost a little more but it also included more. Not having to pay for parking a car is gonna be a huge pro."

"But the rooms were smaller and the last one had three bathrooms." Katherine pointed out.

Matt added his own opinion. "I'm not sure if you girls noticed, but the room that would be mine in the new building didn't have a closet."

"But it did have a little deck and both bathrooms it does have are huge. Katherine, you just want to have your own bathroom." Bonnie countered.

Katherine stuck out her tongue and Caroline giggled. She wrote down all the pros and cons for each place and then they placed them next to each other.

Matt rubbed his neck and looked at the girls. "I know one of the reason you girls want the older place is because its close to NYU, but honestly I think that it's going to make the area unsafer than the newer building. It wasn't crowded when we went, but I'm guessing when school starts, its going to be a traffic nightmare. Not to mention that there will probably be a lot of partygoers. The newer place may be farther but it's not that bad. It only took us 15 minutes to get within walking distance of NYU. And yeah the rooms are a little smaller and I wouldn't have a closet, but I'd be bite the bullet on that since its safer and we get a lot more amenities for our money. Plus we wouldn't have to worry about other bills since the utilities would be included within the rent we give him."

The girls looked at him and Caroline smiled. "I think Matty just made our decision. I knew it was a good idea to make you come with us." She hugged Matt and he rolled his eyes but hugged her back. "Okay I'm gonna call Brian and let him know we want the place."

Katherine sighed and relaxed into the couch. "Thank god that's over. Now all we have to focus on is getting the apartment furnished and then school starts." She smiled and turned to look at the others. "When do you think we should start getting things ready?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Probably the middle of July, then we'll have at least a month to actually move stuff in before orientation so we're actually settled in by the time we start classes."

Caroline nods her head in agreement. "As soon as we get the paperwork for the apartment we'll sign it; when we get home, we can start packing the stuff we're going to be moving with us."

Matt pursed his lips, "When do you think I should put in my two weeks notice?"

Caroline squinted her eyes while she worked out the timing. "Well if we're going to start moving stuff in July, then I would at least say mid August. That way you can still save up some money while you're packing and by the time we actually move here permanently, your two weeks will be up."

"Yeah, okay. This is so surreal, can't believe we're moving out of Mystic Falls. I always thought I'd stay there forever and start a family there." Matt looks at nothing in particular thinking about all the possible futures he ever thought of, this was never one of them. Now there were a new infinite amount of possibilities.

"Well, only one thing left to do." Caroline looked at them and picked up her phone to dial Brian.

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Kol woke up an hour before noon, deciding he'd take Henrik out to eat and hangout. He'd only been home for a week and he was already feeling restless. He wanted to leave but he'd promised himself that he'd stay longer this time for Elijah. He got up and took a shower and dressed in some jeans and a black fitted t-shirt. He went looking for Henrik and found him with Klaus in his studio.

"Good morning dear brothers." Kol sauntered in and clapped his hands together.

Klaus looked at his watch and then smirked at him. "Good afternoon is more like it Kol."

"Details. So, do you two have any plans for today? I was hopping we could do lunch or go do something. I know you still can't do much Henrik but I'm bored of being in the house and Bekah is no fun at the photo shoots; she just wants to work." Kol pouted.

"That's because it is work for her, Kol. I was just going to paint, but I don't seem to have that much inspiration. Henrik doesn't have rehab until Wednesday, so, I'm guessing you're free today, right?" Klaus turned to look at Henrik.

Henrik nodded his head. "Yup, and I'm bored too, so let's go somewhere."

Kol smiled mischievously. "Excellent! Then you'll be happy to know that I was lucky enough to get some tickets to the Goodwood Festival of Speed."

Henrik and Klaus' eyes lit up. They were expecting to go to the movies or something not going to one of the biggest car events, one of the boys' passions.

"Well come on then, go get ready Henrik, we don't have all day. And you too Klaus, don't want to show up with you covered in your finger paint."

Henrik ran up to his room ahead of Klaus to change out of his sleepwear while Klaus chuckled and walked upstairs to his room to change into something more appropriate.

Klaus put on some black jeans and one of his dark gray long-sleeved Henley's left unbuttoned. He left all his necklaces on and put on his favorite black leather jacket then grabbed his Diesel boots and pulled them on. Henrik took a quick shower then pulled on his favorite jeans, a navy blue Calvin Klein v-neck long-sleeved shirt and his ash canvas TOMS boots.

When they were done they came down and found Kol eating a sandwich. "Took you long enough, had a snack to tide me over."

Klaus smirked and grabbed his keys. "We're taking my Rover, I hate your Audi, it's incredibly small."

"Hey! My car is beautiful! Don't you listen to the big bad Klaus." Kol patted his Audi adoringly as they walked by it to get to Klaus' prized Range Rover. This was one of the few things besides his art that he put a lot of thought into. It cost him close to 200 grand but it was worth it for him. He used it for everything and it never failed him. Henrik preferred it because he had room to stretch his legs and it was always a smooth ride.

Klaus entered the address in his GPS and drove off. It would take them almost 2 hours to get there so Kol started to get impatient and he began asking Henrik questions about his school work. Henrik said he had done fine so far and was looking forward to the start of the new school year.

Kol had hated school and he told Henrik he was lucky to be right in middle of the new implementation of raising the required schoolwork he has to do. If he was 2 years younger then he would have to stay in school until he was 18.

Henrik grinned at him and shrugged. "I'm not really like you though. I like school and I know that once I'm done, I'll still be attending a sixth form."

Kol rolled his eyes. "Why? You don't have to. Elijah has rubbed off on you to much; you're becoming an over achiever."

Klaus smirked. "Just because you despised school does not mean he should. I chose to do sixth form and it worked out for me. You're just too restless to stay in school."

Henrik nodded his head. "I may only be 13 but I know that I want a degree in whatever I choose to do."

Kol rolled his eyes as he shook his head, he would just never understand or see the appeal.

"Other than that though, I just miss playing football. I hope my shoulder is ready once school starts again, I don't want to miss the start of the season." Henrik looked over at Klaus.

"I'll ask your doctor the next time we see him." Klaus reassured him. Then he asked Kol how he'd even gotten the tickets for the event. It had been sold out since the beginning of the year.

"I know someone who's working the event. We met while traveling and she tagged along for a few weeks. She asked if I was interested in some tickets when she heard I was back and I said yeah. No big deal, I'm not sure if she'll be there today but if she is I'll have to go and say hello. Not that I mind." Kol smirked and winked at Klaus.

Klaus just shook his head and laughed. "All right we're here! Time to admire some cars."

They all got out of the car and headed for the entrance. Kol gave them the tickets and names and they were given wristbands. They spent a couple of hours just looking at all the beautiful cars that they wished to one day own. Although, technically they already could, if they used Mikael's money.

"Oh my god, just look at that beauty." Kol's eyes sparkled as he bounded over to the Bugatti Veyron. The boys eyes raked over the car and engine. This was by far their favorite car, and not just because it was the fastest car in the world. They loved the design of the car and engine; how sleek it looked and how powerful it sounded. The way it felt driving one was amazing, it made them feel free. Henrik hadn't driven one yet, but they knew once he was old enough they'd ask someone they knew if he could test drive it.

Klaus ran his hand over the roof and smiled. He had promised himself that when he made it big he'd have one custom made. If things kept going the way they were with his art he hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

They went around looking at the classics like the Bugatti Type 59 and the AC Cobra. They were fun to look at because of how old fashioned they looked, but they had always been bigger fans of the newer sleeker look of cars these days.

When Kol saw the new Audi he started considering trading in his old one until Klaus made a point that it would be a waste of money since Kol was hardly ever even home to drive the Audi he had right now. And although Klaus loved these cars, he was also very practical which is why he still hadn't bought a sports car and stuck to his Rover. But, when he saw the Range Rover Sport however, he fell in love with it and knew what his next big buy was going to be.

During their car gazing they started looking for a replacement for Elijah. He liked to show his clients that he was the best by having the best, so when Kol texted him saying they were at the Goodwood Festival, he'd asked if they could check out some potential replacement cars for him.

The BMW Gran Lusso was by far the top choice for them, at least when it came to Elijah. They knew his taste; he may love sporty cars, but he only personally drove classy elegant cars. Another contender was the Mercedes Benz S-class; but they still preferred the look of the BMW.

They said their hello's to a few people who remembered them from business with their father and avoided talking about their mother. After the car show, they spent the rest of the time watching some racing between some of their favorite car choices. By 7 Henrik was getting tired and starting to feel some discomfort in his shoulder, so Klaus decided they should leave. When they got closer to their home, Klaus asked if they where hungry. When they said yes, he chose to take them to eat out.

They weren't really in the mood for anything fancy, so they all decided to have a burger night and they knew the best place to go would be Byron's.

Klaus parked and they headed for the entrance. Klaus ordered a Byron burger with Portobello mushrooms and a bottle of London Pride. Kol got the Chili hamburger with added roasted red peppers and Monterey Jack cheese and also ordered a Byron Lager. Henrik chose to get the Chicken burger with a bottle of Fentimans ginger beer. Together they got some large orders of courgette fries, regular fries, and onion rings. They hadn't really eaten since they left so they were really hungry. They stuffed themselves and talked a little about which car they thought was the best at the show, besides the Veyron, and of course they couldn't agree. When they finished eating, Klaus drove home.

As soon as they walked in Rebekah stormed out of the sitting room and glared at them. She started whining about being left alone for the whole day. "Why am I always the one being left behind." She crossed her arms and pouted.

Kol bounced over to her and hugged her. "Don't worry sister, tomorrow I'll spend the whole day with you."

Her eyes widened in fear and pulled Kol off her. "Never mind. I was only joking."

Klaus and Henrik started cackling and she glared, then smacked them. "Henrik you should take your pain meds and go to sleep."

Henrik grumbled but nodded and said goodnight and went to his room. The others went to the sitting room.

Klaus picked up the book he was currently reading through and Rebekah started texting her friends, seeing if there was anything to do the next day. Kol was bored so he just played on his phone. When Elijah got home, the boys showed him pictures of the cars they thought he'd like. He agreed that the BMW was the best choice and made plans to buy it as soon as possible. He asked Rebekah how her day was and she said it was fine. She just stayed home and cleaned then went out for a bit with a couple of her friends to eat.

"I think I'm going to pull a late night painting session, I really need to focus and start creating some new material." Klaus stood to grab his coat and keys.

Kol looked up from his phone, "Hey! Tomorrow we're going out to a pub or something. You and I need to have guys night." Kol smiled mischievously.

Klaus shook his head. "Okay Kol, just let me know what time to be ready tomorrow. Have a goodnight everyone." He shut the door behind him before anyone could say anything else and headed to his studio apartment.

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Caroline ended the call with Brian and looked at the girls and Matt. She grinned, "We are…officially New Yorkers!" She squealed and the girls started screaming and hugging while Matt smiled and looked on.

"I'm so excited," Bonnie laughed with joy. "I can't believe I'm going to be living in New York and actually going to NYU. This was never even something I imagined doing." She turns to Caroline and her eyes get a bit misty. "You know I really can't thank you enough Care, this never would have happened if you hadn't asked me to go with you this last year."

Caroline smiles and wipes her teary eyes. "Don't be silly, I would have dragged you with me even if you had said no!" They all laughed because they knew it was the truth.

"Well I can't wait to start making that place feel like ours." Katherine started making plans in her head. "And since it's a new town, school and job. I think I'm allowed a new wardrobe too."

The girls giggled because they knew this was definitely going to be one of many priorities. Matt just shook his head as he laughed. "While you guys are shopping I'll be looking for a bar tending gig."

Caroline pouted. "Yeah, you know, as much as I wouldn't mind making my New York look my first priority. Finding jobs first might be the best idea. I'm sure all the NYU students who have to pay for themselves have probably already gotten the head start and left us with a watered down amount of options."

Katherine grunted. "Way to suck out the fun."

Bonnie shrugged. "Being here isn't going to be all about fun, it's mine and Caroline's first year, so we're definitely going to need to buckle down at first to find out how much we'll truly be able to handle. This may technically be a new school for you but I'm pretty sure you'll have a better handle on what needs to be done, you've gone through this at Whitmore."

"True, but I also didn't have anything but school to focus on. Here, I'm gonna have a job and you guys to distract me. So I guess you're right, we're gonna have to take at least the first semester extremely serious and go from there. I just can't wait to finally get into my core classes, I'm lucky some of my credits from Whitmore are actually going to be applying for my Bachelors. I hope the Stern program is as amazing as it sounded on the website." Katherine stares at her hands lost in her thoughts.

"You know, I never thought you out all of us would be the most serious about school," Bonnie looked over at Katherine, "the Stern program has such a hard curriculum to get through. Never saw that in you."

Katherine looked down shyly. "Oh be quiet Bon. Honestly, I never thought I would even finish my 1st year. Elena's always been the brains between us, but I actually like what I'm studying, and not having you guys around for a year really made me hunker down and focus."

"Well now we'll do it together," Caroline smiles, "it's going to be so much fun figuring out the rest of our lives here."

"All we gotta do now is actually move here. I'm thankful you guys thought of me, I know I've been all mopey about Elena. I definitely needed this. And Kat," Matt looks directly at Katherine, "thank you for telling me when we got back. I know that must have been hard for you, but it has changed me for the better and made me see I deserve more."

Katherine turns on the sofa and pulls Matt in for a hug and then leans back. "Stop being so sappy. Each of us will always protect the other, nothing will change that." She smiles at him genuinely then turns to the girls as they nod their heads. "So, now that we've got all that out of the way. We've got 2 hours to celebrate before we have to start packing up." Katherine wiggles her eyebrows mischievously.

They all start laughing and get up to change so they can have one last dinner before they head back to Mystic Falls the next day.

"Oh Caroline, I meant what I said about talking with Alaric." Matt nudges her. "It's the smart thing to do, especially since we have a lot more free time tomorrow. I asked for the whole day off, so we can leave as late as possible. I think each of you girls could benefit from talking with him, but especially you Care since he works in your field."

"I know, I was actually planning on texting Alaric or Meredith if I couldn't reach him. He's supposed to be the one to pick up the keys, so I was going to see if we could talk then."

"That sounds like a good plan." Matt agrees. "You should text them right now so you don't forget or loose your nerve."

"Okay okay, you guys go get ready, we'll go have a nice dinner somewhere." Caroline picked up her phone and looked up Meredith's number as she sat down on the couch. She was going to text her but decided it would probably be best to call instead. She dialed her number and started to become nervous for some reason. Meredith picked up after the 3rd ring.

"Hi Meredith, it's Caroline, I'm staying at your fiancées place. I was wondering if you knew if he would be available for a bit tomorrow when he comes to pick up the keys?" Caroline waited for a response.

"He should be, he's sleeping right now, jet lag and all. But I can ask him when he wakes up, why do you need him?" Meredith asked curious.

"Well, I'm not sure if you remember, but me and my girlfriends are going to be going to NYU starting this Fall, and we kinda wanted to pick his brain a bit." Caroline laughed. "Especially me, I'm going to be in his department since I'm attending Tisch."

"Oh that's awesome, I'm sure it won't be a problem. Alaric loves to help out students as much as he can. I'll definitely let him know. How did your apartment hunting go, if I may ask?"

"We found a place!" Caroline became excited, "It's near Gramercy Park, brand new building, so we're going to be the first ones to live in that apartment. As soon as the owner sends us the rental agreement, we'll sign and and start moving stuff in."

"That's great and that's a really good area. Well I'm glad everything is working out for you guys, I'll let Alaric know that you want to speak to him about NYU. I hate to just hang up like this, but I have to go,I'm working graveyard at the hospital today. Hopefully we'll talk soon."

"Oh that's no problem and thank you. Bye." Caroline hung up and looked at her phone, she was getting really excited for the future that was just around the corner. She got up and went to her room to get dressed for dinner.

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As soon as Klaus walked into his studio, he tossed his jacket onto his couch and grabbed a blank canvas out and set it up on his easel. He pulled out his foldable table and set it up right next to the easel and then started putting his oils and acrylics within reaching distance on the table. He grabbed all the brushes he thought he would need and set out to create something, anything. He just felt like putting his hands to good use at that moment.

He put on a black base and decided he'd try out some new techniques. He was trying to decide if he should delve into some mixed media. Some of the art from the exhibit had given him inspiration to expand his style.

Oils had always been his go-to media, but some of the art he'd seen others had created at the exhibit had impressed him and made him think that maybe he was limiting himself. He new he had a lot of competition, not only from artists who were already famous, but up-and -coming artists as well. He needed to be able to stand out from the crowd, and dipping into different mediums would give him the edge in creating some amazingly unique pieces.

He decided to try image transfers first and go from there. Since he was just experimenting for now, he knew the actual image wouldn't really matter, he wanted to perfect it before he started on his main piece.

It only took him a few tries before he got the hang of it and decided to start with a random sketch he pulled out of his many folders. It was one of his first attempts at drawing the male torso. He remembers the day at the university when the model came out and they were told to create as realistic a likeness to the man, that they possibly could. Klaus was one of the few that had the gift of good eye and drew him almost perfectly.

He ponders on what he can do with this and looks at his black canvas, he knows he's going to have to strip some of the darkness, when suddenly inspiration just hits him.

Klaus stands up and goes to his laptop and looks through his music. He selects one of his many indie playlists and one of his new favorite bands MR MS starts streaming from his speaker. On his way back to his easel he grabs some rags and sea sponges.

Instead of striping the paint as he'd first intended, he grabs a couple of acrylic colors and mixes them until it becomes a pale skin tone. He thins out the color so it's able to drip across the canvas and grabs one of the biggest brushes he can find and slathers the paint right in the middle of the black canvas.

He likes the look of the dripping effect but grabs his rag to wipe off some of the paint from higher up and gives it more of a shape. As he keeps doing this over and over a few times he gets an almost transparent effect in some places.

As he lets this dry he picks up one of his sketching pencils so he can outline the torso he wants to create. Once it's dry enough he maps out the image he has in mind and marks the area he's going to add the transfer pictures.

Klaus draws his own torso and positions his arms to look like he's grabbing something on his chests do pulling up. He doesn't necessarily want people to know its himself he's drawing so he keeps everything above his neck obscure and undefined. Almost as if the head was in motion when the image was captured. The elbows are pointing outward as his hands are grabbing onto something on his chest. As he keeps sketching the image starts to show his hands are ripping his own flesh and leaving a gaping hole in his chest.

Once the outline is done, he grabs a brush to start detailing as much as possible, leaving the chest portion alone for now. As he completes this, he goes to his computer and looks up images of flocks of birds and chooses a few close ups of crows in different sizes. He starts placing them temporarily where he finds them most visually striking and once he's got it down he starts to transfer them onto the canvas one by one.

Klaus stands up and steps back to let it dry and admire what he's created so far. This was definitely going to be one of the most important pieces he's created so far. He grabbed his phone to look at the time and saw it was already 5AM. He'd been painting for a good 6 hours. For now, there wasn't much more he could do to the canvas and he didn't feel at all tired; so instead of going to sleep, he heads to his dresser to grab some clothes and goes to shower. When he steps out of the restroom in only his jeans, he hears his phone going off and goes to answer.

He looks at the caller and picks up. "Hello Elijah, to what do I owe this extremely early wake up call?" Klaus sits on his bed as he towel dries his hair.

"Good morning Niklaus, I didn't expect you to be up this early, I half expected to be sent to voicemail. But since you answered, I just wanted to inform you that Alaric sent an email with a few contacts he would like you to meet with. He also set up a meeting with Peter Gagliardi, the current curator for the Gagliardi Gallery, apparently he and Alaric are very good friends. The meeting isn't just to try to get some pieces in there, but also to make connections and ask for advice."

"The Gagliardi Gallery! Bloody hell, that's one of my favorite galleries, they carry such an eclectic variety of pieces. How in the world am I going to meet with Mr. Gagliardi without becoming a bumbling fool?!" Klaus was staring wide eyed at nothing in particular having stopped drying himself as he heard the news.

Elijah chuckled at his younger brothers words. "You will do just fine, you're art speaks for itself and the rest, well you have to learn at some point. Making these high end connections is what will help launch your career. And this is what you've been striving for since you first started creating masterpieces. Do not let your fear of failure hold you back any longer. If you need any advice I am here and Alaric is but a phone call away."

Klaus gave a heavy sigh and nodded his head. "Thank you 'Lijah. I know I've probably been giving you the biggest headache out all our siblings, with my pathetic moody periods, but I am very grateful that you've always been there for me." He felt so uncomfortable saying all this to Elijah, but he knew he had to let him see that he really did appreciate everything he'd ever done for him.

Elijah cleared his throat overcome with so much emotion from hearing Klaus' words, it meant the world to him. He didn't want to make this even harder for Klaus, knowing how this would make him feel. So he held it down and responded as grateful as he could without being sappy. "You're my brother Niklaus. I will always be here for you. Always and forever." They were silent for a few seconds. "Now I must let you go, I have a meeting in half an hour and need to prepare. Your meeting with Mr. Gagliardi is set for tomorrow. I hope to see you at home this evening. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Elijah." They hung up and Klaus just sat there for a bit not really thinking about anything just giving himself some time to breath and relax. When he looked at his phone again it was 8AM and he got up to finish dressing and start his day.


	6. Chapter 5

**Okay, so I know those of you who have been following this story may be getting impatient for them to meet. Trust me when I say it's coming. Should everything follow as planned, there'll be 2 more chapters before then. Unfortunately I do like to follow a certain pace and have a certain amount written for each viewpoint, so it takes me a while to be satisfied. Also, I like being as accurate as I possibly can be, so I research a lot lol. Dates, addresses, things with numbers,those tend to be the most things I fudge with. As I've said before, I'm not really a writer, so I know I can't rush too much or else I'll screw myself over and mess up the story. After this chapter, there will continually be some time jumps; some small and some significantly bigger so they can all catch up and be on the same timeline. Alright, on with the show, hope you like.**

 **Oh! AND thank you sooooo much to those that have reviewed/followed/favorited, it really does keep me motivated knowing people are enjoying my work.**

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After Elijah's phone call Klaus became aware of the fact that he needed to start making himself look more appealing, professionally speaking. He sent Alaric an email thanking him for arranging the meeting with Peter Gagliardi and then proceeded to ask about what he should do about a résumé since he only had a basic one, he'd never truly thought about having one and he'd also never properly created a professional portfolio of his work. Meeting with Tessa had made him see how unprepared he was.

He knew it was the middle of the night in New York, so he didn't expect to hear from him for at least a few hours. Instead of just waiting around, he looked up some examples to at least get the ball rolling; that way he wouldn't have as much to do when he heard back from Alaric. To say that he was beyond focused was an understatement. He was so engrossed in getting things done that when he heard the chime of new mail, it was already midday.

Alaric sent him a template to write his résumé and attached a few pictures of one of the best portfolios he'd ever seen by one of his students. He told Klaus to keep it concise and organized. It should be kept to one theme or style and each print showcasing his pieces should be big enough for galleries to see basic details. He also told him to keep it to a maximum of 20 images, maybe even keeping it as low as 10, Klaus wouldn't want them to be bombarded with images. The portfolio was meant for galleries to get a glimpse of Klaus' style and body of works. Alaric told him to send him everything once he was done and he would edit it for him.

Klaus got right to work; the résumé was fairly simple to do since he had already started writing everything out. All he had to do was place what he'd written into the designated areas in the template, and elaborate a little more. For his portfolio, he went through the pictures he and Rebekah had taken and organized his work by theme and color palettes. He knew he'd have to retake them since he'd only used his phone and rushed it. The pictures had to show the true colors and details of his paintings and these weren't doing any of them justice.

Once Klaus decided on the 10 he'd use for his portfolio, he sent them to Alaric for his opinion and approval, then he took a break and went out to eat. While he went to one of his favorite pubs, he texted Kol to see when they would be going out. He needed to make sure he had enough time to change and get ready. He wasn't one to go to clubs, but he was still young and hadn't had a night out in a while. Usually that was something he'd wait to do when Kol was around.

Now don't get him wrong, just because he wasn't that social and hated relationships, that didn't mean he wasn't a ladies man. In fact he could probably rival Kol in that department, was maybe even worse at times, seeing as how he almost never went out with the same girl more than the once. After Tatia, he never gave a girl a chance to get to know him, so they couldn't get attached and neither could he.

Kol texted back saying he should be ready by 9. He also said that Rebekah and a couple of her friends might go with them. A couple of minutes later, Rebekah texted as well, warning both of them to stay away from her friends, she had a hard enough time finding females she found worthy of her friendship. Klaus smirked and shook his head.

As soon as he was done eating, he headed back to his studio. He only had a few hours until he had to get ready so he decided to put most of his art supplies away. He read Alaric's response and was happy to know he had chosen correctly. He set the couple of paintings for the portfolio that he currently had at the studio aside, ready to be photographed the next day.

When 9 o'clock came around , he'd already changed into some black Diesel jeans and a dark grey Varvatos long sleeve Henley, with one of his black leather jackets. He put on all his necklaces and made sure to have his phone, keys and wallet on him as he headed out of the door.

He felt his phone vibrating, so he answered. "Yes Kol, I'm already on my way."

"No, that's why I'm calling, we're picking you up. 'Bekah is gonna drive so you and I can have a fun night."

Klaus stopped heading to his car and switched directions to go to the front of the building. He was going to ask how far they were, when he saw Rebekah pull up, so he ended the call.

Rebekah smiled. "Get in, the girls are already there."

Klaus climbed into the back. "So, where are we going exactly?"

Kol turned in his seat to look back at Klaus and gave him a mischievous smirk. "Ministry of Sound. We are going to dance the night away, so I hope you can at least pretend not to be dull."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Really, I'm the dull one? You're a right prat Kol. At least women can stand me for more than 5 minutes."

Kol pouted. "Oi! Who are you calling a prat! And I'll have you know that I am extremely popular with the birds." He turned back around before Klaus could say anything else.

Rebekah scoffed at both of them. "Oh would you both belt up! This is supposed to be a fun night, don't ruin it!"

After they parked they went up to the front of the line and Rebekah gave her name and they were allowed in. It only took them a few minutes to find her friends and then the boys went off on their own to the get some drinks.

They both got some whiskey and then looked out into the crowd.

"Is it weird that I feel like an old geezer right now." Kol asked Klaus. "Im only 20, but I've done so much more then most of the people here, been to so many places. All of this is almost unexciting compared to all that, although these lasses do look quite fit compared to some of the birds that I've traveled with." Kol nodded at a girl that was to his left and smirked.

Klaus shrugged. "I think I've been over clubs for quite a while now, I'm only here tonight for you and Bekah. I'd rather go to a pub to chat up a girl. They're a lot less pissed and much more sharp."

Kol laughed. "I could care less if they're sharp, I'm looking to shag someone not marry them. I just hate all the noise and crowds at times. It's not as much fun as it used to be. Plus finding a bird that is on vacation is so much easier while traveling yourself, they understand that it's a no-strings-attached deal from the start."

In the middle of them talking, 2 girls started checking them out. After a couple of minutes they went over to talk to the boys and then pulled them to the dance floor. Kol was a natural, the girl he was with kept laughing and dancing with him. Klaus looked over at them, then down at the girl who was dancing with him.

The girl looked up at him and smiled. "What's your name?"

"Klaus." He danced fairly close to her and she slowly turned so she could grind her backside into Klaus. As much as he would have liked to further it, he held back. The girl slid her hand down his body when he went rigid. Klaus grabbed her hand and pulled it off himself. The girl turned to look at him annoyed. He didn't care.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but I'm just not interested." Klaus walked away leaving her stunned. He walked back to the bar and got another whiskey neat and just looked out at the crowd. He found Rebekah and her friends being silly and smiled. When Rebekah saw him alone, she motioned for him to come over, so he did.

"So that strumpet wasn't to your taste." Rebekah asked cheekily.

Klaus smirked. "I'm not really in the mood for a quick shag. I'm out with you sweetheart, and I have too many important things to focus on to even put some effort on some girl. That's not even remotely in my thoughts right now. Having a drink and being silly with you lot is enough." Rebekah's friends giggled and they all danced together.

Two hours later Kol found his way back to the group. "You're such a dullard Nik, I can't believe you walked away from that bird, but it did give me a chance to get both of their phone numbers. So I guess, technically, I should be thanking you." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Rebekah overheard and grimaced. "You're such a pig Kol, I do not want to hear about the tarts you are trying to shag!"

Kol rolled his eyes, laughed and pulled Rebekah into him as she tried to get him off her. "Oh Bekah stop being jealous. I promise to spend the rest of tonight with you."

"Oh spare me, Im not jealous of your man whore ways. Unlike you two, I actually believe in love. Thank god Henrik hasn't followed in your footsteps, and I'll find someone for Elijah yet." She turned from the boys and kept dancing with her friends.

Kol stood there pouting and looked a Klaus, who had a scowl on his face. "I am not a man whore, I'm just keeping my options open." Klaus rolled his eyes and walked away. "I'm not!"

Rebekah's friends started giggling at Kol's antics and turned away from him to dance some more. She told the girls they would be leaving soon. She needed her beauty rest if she wanted to keep getting modeling jobs.

Klaus agreed on leaving early, mostly because he hadn't slept in over 24hrs, but he also needed to be up early to properly photograph his art before his meeting the next day. Even though the meeting was set until the late afternoon, he did not want to be rushed.

At midnight they called it quits and headed home, all of Rebekah's friends went together while the Mikaelson's went in the opposite direction. They were so worn out, that they each fell asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow.

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It was noon by the time everyone was ready to head back to Mystic Falls. They had all loved the restaurant that Meredith and Alaric had recommended in the folder, the night before. It was everything they knew they would be looking forward to in the coming months when they moved to New York permanently.

Caroline shot Alaric a text letting him know they were ready to "check-out" and he said he'd be there within a half hour. Caroline made sure to have some questions about NYU prepared. Bonnie and Katherine also wanted to ask a few questions but they weren't as worried about it like Caroline. When they hear the nock, Caroline walks to the door and let's Alaric in.

"Hi, I'm Caroline. That's Bonnie and Katherine and my brother Matt." Caroline had turned to point each of them out and Alaric shook their hands.

"It's really nice to meet you, I'm Alaric Saltzman, Meredith's fiancé. She said that you girls are going to be attending NYU this upcoming fall."

"Yeah, Bonnie and I are incoming freshmen, Kat is going to be a 2nd year transfer from Whitmore." They all headed into the living room and sat on the couches.

Alaric smiled at them. "That's awesome, what are you guys majoring in? If I may ask."

Katherine replied first. "Well most of my 1st year at Whitmore was dedicated to GE and business courses, which I'm glad about, for the most part. I'm going into Stern and luckily they're able to apply a lot of my credits to the Marketing program I applied for. Eventually I want to get my MBA but for now I'm just going for my BA and hoping I'll be able to pull it off."

Bonnie playfully scoffed. "Please…you'll be gliding through your coursework, you were on the deans list!" Bonnie turned to look at Alaric directly. "She could do this blindfolded, I however am still somewhat undecided. I'm actually coming in undeclared, but I do know that I want to do something with writing about fashion. I have my own blog where I write articles about fashion trends and post Caroline's pictures as well. We did a whole journey through South America this past year, where I posted our story on a semi weekly basis. That's what I used to apply to NYU and they seemed to like it. So I'm hopeful that I can turn that into some kind of career."

Alaric nodded his head. "Well that's interesting, depending on what part of that process you liked most; you could go into journalism, communications, marketing, even web design. The idea would be that you would use all the knowledge you acquire to facilitate a way to express your love of fashion. My best bet if you want do do anything with writing, when it comes to any field, go with journalism. You can get your BA from NYU and maybe look into fashion schools around here for an AA or even a Masters if you're up for the challenge."

Bonnie listened intently, she knew she was getting a lot of good advise. Some of the options he had named had never even occurred to her. "I think that for this first semester, at least, I'm going to stick to the general classes, but I'm also keep looking into all the different programs and what really calls to me, plus look into the fashion schools like you suggested." Then they looked back at Katherine.

"Well, I think for the most part I'm okay for now. It's all going to be about adjusting to all the different environments and teaching styles, but really that changes every semester anyways. Being at Whitmore alone that for a year, really made me see what I'm capable of achieving as long as I stay focused. Having my friends here is only going to help me be less stressed because we'll be doing it together."

Alaric nodded his head in understanding. "Well if you have any concerns at any point, I'll be glad to help. Though, I think Stern may have just gotten one of their most promising students yet. I can tell you're going to do great there."

Caroline looked at the group and got flustered, it was her turn; Matt smiled at her encouragingly and nudged her. "Well I'm actually going to be at Tisch, Meredith mentioned that you were an art history professor there. I looked at my syllabus after she said that and I'm actually going to be in your class this fall."

Alaric became really excited. "That is so awesome, I've never gotten the chance to meet one of my students before school starts, so this is kind of exciting. I really like to help my students as much as I can. If you ever need any kind of guidance, I'll definitely be happy to help."

"That's good to hear, 'cause I kind of want to pick your brain for some tips." Caroline grinned.

Alaric laughed. "Go right ahead and fire away with your questions."

"Alright, first things first, I'm going into Tisch under their photography program but I also want to try my hand at other mediums. Do you think it's a good idea to do both or should I just focus on photography right away."

Alaric nodded his head and thought about it for a little. "Well, you can't really deviate from required coursework once you've chosen a field at Tisch, they're very selective for a reason. And there also aren't any courses for different mediums besides performance arts at Tisch specifically, but what you can do is take some other art classes through one of the other colleges as your electives. Maybe even minor in digital art so you can combine your love of photography in there."

"I never thought about that; okay, I'll look into that. Second, I went through the website and it didn't really explain how advising works, at least for my department. I know registration started last week, and since I applied late, I registered for the required classes and pretty much any class that would fit my schedule. I just wasn't sure about who to go to about classes and guidance."

"You should be getting your Freshmen Registration Handbook soon, that'll help you out until you girls come for orientation week at the end of August. You'll meet your assigned advisor that week, and if there's any changes that need to be made to your schedule, they'll help you do that. But, if all else fail and you still need help, my door is open, so you can come to me.

"Thank you so much. You don't even know how much this means to me. I know all the programs at NYU are rigorous, but I only just decided on photography while we were backpacking through South America, so I was honestly surprised that I was even accepted into Tisch. And I am a perfectionist, so I will be working my ass off to make sure everyone knows I was worthy of this chance." Caroline looked at him determinedly.

Alaric smiled. "I can tell, and," he looked at Bonnie and Katherine, "although I am technically a part of the Tisch department, you girls can also come to me for any help as well. If I don't know the answer, I'm sure I can find it quicker for you than if you went looking on your own."

The girls felt such a relief knowing they had someone on the faculty that they could turn to whenever they had any problems, and Matt was grateful as well.

Caroline smiled. "There's 2 more questions and I'll leave you alone." Alaric laughed. "Okay, I've always been involved as much as can be in school and the town; I was wondering what your thoughts were on my being involved in clubs and stuff. We're all looking to get part time if not full time jobs too, so I know we're already going to be spread thin on time."

Alaric considered the options. "Well I would suggest not taking on any other load than what's required for at least the first semester. If you feel you can handle more after that, then at least you'll know what you're limit will be. College is nothing like high school, and you also had an entire year of no school as well. You may need time to adjust to the course load first."

The girls nodded in understanding; Caroline was a bit disappointed, but she decided to take it as a challenge. She was Miss Mystic and head of pretty much every committee they had. She would not be overwhelmed by NYU. She looked back at Alaric determined and he saw the fire in her eyes.

"Okay, last question; I mentioned we were all looking to get part time or full time jobs. I just know that we won't find the greatest selection, since I'm sure a lot of the other students probably snatched them up ages ago. Would you happen to know where we could find any, where we could look?"

"As a matter of fact, I may have a perfect job for you and Bonnie. It's not in fashion but it is artistic. Although I work at NYU, I didn't always. I actually went to school to become a photographic journalist and eventually got into teaching art history instead. But while I was photographer, I bought a small space to do my work. Now, my place isn't huge but I have expanded and now I deal with a lot of different photography aspects. I can definitely find something for both of you, if you like." He smiled at them.

Bonnie answered immediately. "Of course we'll work for you! Whatever the job is, I'm sure it'll be great." She looked at Caroline ecstatically, and Caroline for her part was slightly worried.

"You only mentioned me and Bonnie", Caroline turned to Katherine as she silently asked Alaric.

Alaric nodded, "Yes, don't worry. Part of journalism and being at NYU has given me many connections. I know I can find her a much better suited position for her."

Katherine smirked. "Thank you."

"I think you just made our first New York trip, absolutely perfect." Matt looked at Alaric. "Okay, well I'm guessing that's all the girls wanted to ask, for now at least." He turned to them and they nodded in agreement. "That means, we are headed off back home. It was really nice meeting you and I'm glad my sister will have you in her corner. It's been so awesome here and I can't wait till we move here permanently. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around." Matt laughed and shook Alaric's hand, then went to grab the luggage.

Bonnie and Katherine both shook Alaric's hand, then grabbed their luggage to wait with Matt as Caroline grabbed the folder and keys for the apartment off of the counter.

"Here are the keys and the folder you left us. This place was perfect and so were you and Meredith. Thank you again, so much. I will be definitely be seeing you first day of classes if not sooner." She grinned at him and headed to the door where Matt was holding out her bag.

They all piled out of the apartment and headed to the elevator. When the doors opened they went in and pushed the button for the lobby. Once on the street it took them about 15 minutes to get to their car. They hadn't really accumulate much from this trip since it was mostly meant for apartment hunting.

Before heading home they searched for the best reviewed pizza place on their way and chose to go to Champions Pizza Soho. They bought a margarita pizza to go and were on their way, back to Mystic Falls. Just a few more weeks and they would no longer be calling it home.

Somehow they made it to Mystic Falls a lot earlier than expected. Once they pulled up to Liz's house, Bonnie and Katherine grabbed their bags and went home, but before they did Caroline told them they'd have to come over once Brian sent all the paperwork that needed to be filled and signed. Their new life in New York would be starting soon, and they had to prepare.

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The night out with his siblings had really done Klaus some good. He was focused and working so much, he hadn't had much time to relax. The fact that he would be meeting with the curator of one of his favorite galleries had put him on edge, so he was glad to take his mind off it for a bit. That did not, however, stop him from waking up early to get his portfolio completed.

He was up and awake, even before Elijah, which pleasantly surprised the older brother. Klaus pulled out some lighting equipment and placed each canvas on the black background he'd created. He pulled out their best camera and changed the settings for the best and most realistic quality he could take, and when he was done he printed each picture. Luckily, since Elijah had become a publicist, he'd spent a lot of time and money building his office to have as many needed equipment as possible. So, he'd invested in one of the best photographic printers. He also knew it would be a great asset for Klaus to have, if he ever needed to print anything, like today.

Once each picture was printed, he neatly placed them in his portfolio, along with his résumé. It was almost noon and his meeting was set for 3PM. Elijah had warned them all, especially Kol, to leave Klaus alone for the day; as he had important things to handle before the meeting. Surprisingly, they had complied and stayed out of sight. Now that Klaus was done and ready, he finally ventured out of the office in search of his siblings. He had a couple of hours to de-stress before the meeting.

He heard piano tunes coming from the living room and smiled. He got there, leaned on door frame and looked on at his brothers. Kol was teaching Henrik one of his favorite melodies. "I'd forgotten how well you played."

Kol smirked and turned. "Yes well, just one of my many amazing talents. I actually haven't played in a couple of years. I'm always traveling. Henrik said he'd started up on the piano in school."

"Yeah, I hate not being able to play. I can't do any of the activities I like to do." He looked down at his cast miserably.

Klaus chuckled. "Maybe next time you'll think before you do anything foolish. It won't be long till it's off, then you can start playing and composing again."

Kol looked at Henrik astonished. "You're composing? Wow, that's quite impressive, it took me a long time before I truly learned to compose."

Klaus looked on proudly while Henrik became embarrassed. "We have another artistic genius; He's a natural with music. Me and Elijah have been considering finding him a performing arts school for his sixth form if he wants."

Henrik smiled shyly. "Of course I want that."

Kol rolled his eyes. "Oh shut it about sixth forms already. I get it, you're a nerd." He grinned while Klaus shook his head. "When's your meeting?"

"3 o'clock, I still have a couple of hours." Klaus looked at his watch to make sure. "I might leave early to make a better impression. Why don't you take out some of your music sheets and see if Henrik can make sense of it; I never could."

"That's because you were actually quite bloody awful, we just indulged your need to try and be better than all of us." Kol looked up and grinned when he saw that he'd made Klaus upset. "I'm just winding you up mate."

Klaus looked at him unimpressed. "Yes, I know. It gets quite boring after 20 odd years."

Kol laughed and Henrik smiled. "Well I want to be like Nik, make the thing I love most, my profession. I'll go into music. Maybe I'll become famous like you too and be on the radio someday."

"Okay, okay, enough. You'll be famous, Nik'll be famous, so will Bekah; Elijah will manage all of you. And I'll still be a bachelor running across this beautiful globe having fun." Kol laughed mischievously.

Klaus shook his head and slowly smiled. He pushed off the door frame and moved towards his brothers. He jokingly pushed Kol off the piano and sat down. He started playing an old tune. Both Kol and him slowly became somber.

Henrik looked at them curiously. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

Kol answered. "Mother taught him that, it didn't take long for him to learn it. But they would always sit and spend time to play it together."

Klaus abruptly stopped and stood up looking upset. "I don't want to be late, I'm going to grab my portfolio and head out to the gallery."

Kol looked looked at the pion keys dejectedly while Henrik sadly looked over at Klaus' retreating form. "Good luck Nik, I know you'll do great."

Klaus thanked him but didn't want to turn around and see the pity in their face. As soon as he had his portfolio, he went to his Rover and drove off to his meeting. It only took about 30 minutes to arrive at the gallery, so he waited a bit to gather his composure. Once he was calm enough, he got out of his Rover and walked inside. He asked to speak with Mr. Gagliardi, and the lady walked him back to where his little office was. Peter stood up and they shook hands.

"You're here early. So, you are the bright new artist that Alaric keeps mentioning? Well, I must say your art is quite captivating. He told me he's already procured a starting collection of your best work. You recently had a debut at the Saachi, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct. Tessa, the curator for the event saw my work and asked if I would like to participate. It was one of the best experiences I've had, thus far. That's where I met Alaric and he bought that collection." Klaus was starting to feel hot, talking about his art always made him self conscious.

"He actually showed me those pieces. I must admit, if I had gone, I might have had to undermined that sale so I could negotiate a higher price and get the pieces myself. They were very exquisite, dark, painful. Very beautiful and emotional. I hope that your portfolio will showcase your range." He stretched out his arm to take the portfolio.

Klaus handed it to him. "Most of my work is very abstract, oils and acrylics. I'm starting to dabble in new mediums. These are some of my best and most cohesive."

Peter looked at each, analyzing the details and seeing if he felt the same kind of raw talent he saw in the pieces Alaric had bought. He was very much pleased. Klaus' work impressed him; he was young but his art spoke volumes. He took a deep breath and looked up at Klaus and smiled. "These are magnificent creations. How long does it usually take you to crest a new piece." He set the portfolio down.

"It really depends on the piece. My commission work tends to take longer, mostly because it's quite tedious and unimaginative. My private works also take longer because I will change my mind a lot and set it aside and restart again. Most of my work for display, that I would like the world to experience, hardly take any time at all as I paint by emotion and imagination. I let the work speak for itself." Klaus shrugged.

Peter acknowledged this in understanding then started at his computer screen pensively. "We have an exhibit coming up in a few months. I don't know what your schedule is like but I would love to display some of your work. There's one in this portfolio in particular I'd like to place in the exhibit. Now, if you would like, I could just do this one or we could set a time to allow you to creat some more. I may ask for another one or 2 pieces from this portfolio, but not as of yet."

Klaus was beyond ecstatic, he just couldn't believe how fast everything in his career was evolving. "I think I could most definitely create some new works in a few weeks at the very latest. And whichever piece you've chosen already could be here soon enough."

"Then I think we have a deal, and welcome to the Gagliardi. I look forward to seeing your work on display. The exhibit isn't for another 3 months, so you should have plenty of time; send some pictures once you are done and I'll inform you which ones should be brought in." He opens up the portfolio and skimmed through the photos to find the piece he admired most. "This piece should be the focal point, it'll go quite nicely were I want to place it."

Klaus looked at the picture and took note of it, it was one of his newer ones. "Okay, I will pull that one and paint the others to compliment it. And that will definitely be enough time. I do have some upcoming shows with Saachi, but I have a set number to do and all of this change has really given me more motivation and imagination; it shouldn't be a problem."

"Great, then I think we are done for today." Peter stood up and walked around his desk as Klaus stood, and they shook hands. "I'm glad Alaric discovered you, you really are a promising artist, I can't wait to see how your work develops with time. I'll keep in contact with you, see how things are moving along. It was a pleasure meeting you."

Klaus smiled joyfully. "No, believe me, the pleasure was mine. I will talk to you soon." He turned around and walked out, heading for his Rover.

He texted the news to Elijah and Alaric and just sat there. He was thinking about how fast things were changing, and all of it was for the better. Even though he portrayed himself as being though and confident, he wasn't. Years of being told he was nothing, were ingrained into him, and all he could think of right now was - I'm going to eventually fail. He didn't want Elijah to see him like this, he'd take him aside to let him know what he already knew in his heart - even if he did fail, the family would stick by his side until he picked himself up again.

His phone beeped and he looked at the text, it was from Alaric. He congratulated him and told him to keep moving forward and keep growing as an artist. Elijah texted him soon after saying they'd celebrate once he was home from work. Klaus took a deep breath started his car an headed home.

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Within 2 weeks of signing the lease, Caroline had told the girls, and Matt, that they'd slowly start packing and moving things into their apartment. After that was taken care of, they would start shopping for all the other big essential furniture they would be needing. Matt had burst their bubble in thinking they could just bring everything they already owned. He said they were nuts if they thought he was going to be hauling furniture all the way to New York, let alone up a building.

In the end they just went to Ikea to get the most space efficient furniture, since space was pretty much a commodity and they wanted to leave as much as possible for themselves. The girls also let Matt have free reign of the living room since he took the smallest room that didn't have a closet, and he definitely took advantage of that. As long as he had an awesome entertainment center, he was happy.

Matt's main focus as soon as they had started to move things, had been to find a job as a bartender pretty much anywhere that would match what he was already making or higher, with hopes of moving up in rank. It didn't take long to find something, he'd been working at the Grill long enough to make a good impression. He told them when he'd be available and they hired him not long after. When it came time to leave Mystic Falls, every thing was ready for him to start his new life.

For the girls it was a bit different, although they wanted to start working as soon as they could, Alaric had told them that work could wait, their positions weren't going anywhere. He wanted them to get acclimated to college life before adding another responsibility to their plate. They focused on their orientation week and first days of classes and didn't start working until their 2nd month in New York. True to his word, Alaric had given Caroline and Bonnie a job and found a great paid internship for Katherine. It wasn't a regular thing to give someone so young to the industry a paid internship, but since Alaric had put in a good word for her and was already backing her up, they gave her the chance.

Their freshman year at NYU wasn't as hard as they expected. It definitely helped Caroline and Bonnie, that Katherine had already gone through this process, even if it was at a different college. They learned where everything was in campus and who to go to when they needed extra help, most of that time it was Alaric and he was glad to be of help.

Caroline's first semester of general classes was the easiest in a sense because the Tisch curriculum was more straight forward. Most of what she took were intro classes and having her friends and Matt there to support her got her through their first finals. Her second semester was a lot tougher; she ended up having to go to her photography advisor to get extra help and advice, but she never felt quite comfortable enough with her. Eventually, after thinking it through, she asked Alaric if he could mentor her and he was ecstatic. She was his first student to ask him for a mentorship and he really believed she would make it far with the right direction. So of course, Alaric agreed, on the condition that she would work hard and always come to him for help, which she already was; she'd taken to asking him for advice for pretty much any problem that popped up.

Bonnie was a little different in that she ends up doing exactly what she said she'd do; she only takes some general education classes her first semester to get the feel of college life. The second semester she ends up taking some media and journalism classes to see if she should continue with her original plan, eventually realizing that Alaric was right. If she wants to make her blog professional, then she has to know how to write critically, so she finally sticks with the journalism major concentrating on print/online. At some point she even figures it would probably be best if she minors in web design so she could actually create her own website as well.

As for Katherine, when she transferred, she knew one day she'd want to go into the Stern EMT masters program; so she talked to her new advisor and took the classes she would need to get her there. She had already taken a couple of required classes at Whitmore that luckily transferred and applied to her marketing degree she had selected. She knew she had a long road ahead but it was worth it and she was happy that her first year at Whitmore hadn't gone to waste and was actually working in her benefit.

Outside of school the girls didn't do much but study and hangout with Matt at the restaurant he worked at for the first year. Although Matt chose to work at a bar again he also decided to take some business classes at MCNY; he didn't want to be a bartender for the rest of his life. He was only going for an A.S. but it was better than nothing. Of course, every once in a while they would let loose and party but they didn't want to mess up so soon into college life.

Things changed a little for Caroline in her sophomore year because she meets Tyler, through Matt. He's instantly interested in her and starts to pursue her. Although Matt liked Tyler, he wasn't sure if he wanted him to date his sister. He never follows up on his worry though; he figures that Caroline is old enough to choose who she wants. It isn't long before they become an item, and for the most part, he makes her happy, so Matt just keeps his opinion to himself; unlike Katherine. Almost from the beginning, she makes it known how much she dislikes Tyler, and that she doesn't trust him. It saddens Caroline, because they can't go to many places without them arguing, but most of the time Katherine will just walk away so she doesn't stress out her best friend.

Katherine generally just sticks to dating, her and Bonnie never get into a serious relationship during their entire time at NYU. Bonnie however, mostly because she's just too focused on trying too start her website. She almost never even notices when a guy is attracted to her. Katherine honestly doesn't see the point, she finds all the college guys to be immature, so she throws herself into her school work even more and only dates out of boredom or if she needs to relieve some stress.

Caroline and Bonnie's sophomore and junior year breeze right on by and they keep their GPA's up pretty high. They weren't perfect and struggled every once in a while but all three girls would stick together and Alaric was always there whenever they stressed too much. Alaric even eventually finds internships for Bonnie and Caroline that would work with the girls school and work hours. Since they work for Alaric, he usually gives them leeway when they start to get a bit overwhelmed.

During Katherine's 4th year, Alaric advises her that she should apply for the EMT minor. He tells her to look at what's available and if there is anything that could be applied with all the classes she's already taken; she might not need much more for the minor. It would also look good on her application once she chose to get her MBA. Although it would set her graduation about a semester behind, she decides to go for it.

Of course, since Katherine was slightly ahead of both Bonnie and Caroline, she would graduate before them. Her parents and little brother come for her graduation but Elena, still holding a grudge, does not come. Although her parents are disappointed in Elena, they don't push her to come since they consider her old enough to make her own decisions; but they do warn her that eventually she's going to end up regretting this. Everyone was extremely proud of Katherine, and more than impressed. Because of her success and hard work at school and her internships at HBO and A+E, she lands a job immediately as a Junior Account Executive at NBC.

During this time Matt also graduates; while he'd originally intended on just getting his associates degree in business, he eventually sets out to get his bachelors, with an emphasis on accounting, since it wouldn't take him much longer to complete. Being able to take online classes really helped him because he worked a lot of night shifts. His boss was so pleased, that once graduated, he gets promoted to bar manager, which Matt does not complain about.

It wouldn't be long now for it to be Bonnie and Caroline's turn to walk down the aisle in their cap and gown and receive what was rightfully there's for all their hard work. They still had a few struggles to deal with, but the light at the end of their college years was but a mere hairs breath away. They were each lost in their own trepidation however, at what adulthood had to offer. Yes, technically they lived in New York on their own, but their school, home and even some bills where still being paid for by their parents. Matt and Katherine could perhaps stand on their own merit a bit more than the other two, but they had not tried just yet. They were all looking to each other to see who would be the first to finally leave the nest and build their own home. And until that happened, they would cling to each other for support.


	7. Chapter 6

**Yay for me! I actually got this chapter done pretty damn fast if I do say so myself :) and I've already started the next one. I think I'm on a roll right now so I hope I can post it soon. I'm sorry if you guys are finding it too slow :( Although Caroline and Klaus will be the main couple, this fic is not just about their journey, it's about all of theirs. I am probably going to focus on the other characters point of views at some point soon.**

 **Also to the guest who said Matt is boring, I don't think he is. He doesn't necessarily do what others tell him to do, but he did have an opportunity presented to him as he found himself at a lost point in his life. Yeah it was with his baby sister, but he's just trying to find who he is again, away from mystic falls and he's also a gentleman and not that materialistic, so he always gives the girls the first choice if it's something unimportant.**

 **Oh and again, this about their journey and life, it's not just about them meeting and bam their together. That's why I didn't start it off at their first meeting.**

 **Alright, so here's the next chapter. Please review, and thank you to all those that are following and have favorited. It means the world to me!**

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 _ **4yrs After Moving to New York**_

"Hey Matt, where exactly did you put my tablet?!" Caroline had searched everywhere and couldn't seem to find it.

Matt came into the living room and went straight to their side table and pulled out the tablet. "I told you, the side table next to the couch." He handed it to her, then went back to his room.

Caroline rolled her eyes and followed after him. "What were you even using it for last night?"

Matt had his laptop on and was filling something out. "I was looking at some new job openings. I figure, you and Bonnie are graduating in a few weeks and you're probably gonna wanna find your own place soon, so I'm trying to find a better job, with more responsibility and higher pay, so I can get my own place too." Matt stopped typing and looked up at her.

Caroline frowned. "What makes you think we don't want you anymore or that we want our own place?"

Matt chuckled and smiled at her. "Care, I'm a 26 year old guy living with my little sister and her two best friends. It's honestly not as much about you as it is about me, for once. I had my own place in Mystic Falls and at a pretty young age, now I'm finally starting to miss it. I need my own space. Plus I'm tired of just being the bar manager at the Moonstone, I need to put my business degree to use."

Caroline gave Matt a small smile and sat on his bed. "Okay, I get it. Doesn't mean I'm supposed to like it. We really are grown ups now aren't we?" Caroline looks over at Matt and sighs.

Matt laughs and pulls Caroline into a hug. "You act like this is the end of the world. It's not like we're never going to see each other again. I'll probably end up living like 15 minutes away, just like in Mystic Falls. And you know you're gonna become this famous photographer that you'll be so big you'll probably forget me anyways."

Caroline smirks at him. "You're my big brother, I'll never forget you."

Matt smiles and pulls her up with him. "Alright, enough mushy girl stuff. Let's go get something to eat, there's a new bar and grill down the street that I've been meaning to check out. Maybe they're even hiring."

Caroline and Matt headed to the front door when Bonnie and Katherine walked in. Bonnie sets down her books and bag and then turns back to the others.

"Look who I found downstairs coming home early for once." Bonnie grins at Caroline and Matt.

Katherine rolls her eyes and takes off her blazer and high heels. "Oh be quite Bonnie, I'm not that bad. So, I've been at the studio late a lot lately. I'm just trying to get noticed for going above and beyond what my job title entails instead of just running around doing everyone's personal errands."

Matt smiles at them. "Me and Care are going to go check out the new bar down the street. Do you girls want to come? We can wait, if you're not gonna take long." Matt jokingly squints and glares at Katherine as he says the last part.

She narrows her eyes at him, puts her heels back on and grabs the purse she just set down. "Please, I don't need to get ready, I always look fabulous." She flips her hair and turns towards the door, then she looks over her shoulder at them. "Well, come on then, I won't wait all day for you."

Matt and Caroline look at each other and shake their heads. Bonnie just snickers and jogs after Katherine. It takes them 10 minutes to get to the new bar.

"It's pretty full for how early it is." Caroline swings her head looking around the bar. "It looks nice enough. Hopefully they serve actual good food here." She sat down at the booth they were led to and looks at the menu.

Matt started looking at what kinds of steak deals they offered. "Man, I'm starving. I hope these stakes taste as good as they sound."

Katherine scrunched her nose. "Ew, red meat. This chick is sticking to a plain old salad, thank you very much."

Bonnie looks over the menu as well and decides she'll have a salad too. "Hopefully the food is as good as the ambiance, maybe we've finally found a place to compare with The Grill." Bonnie looks up at her friends.

Katherine looks at her doubtfully. "I don't think any place is ever gonna compare. Even if they are a perfect 10 out 10, I'll always choose The Grill, it's all about the memories we created there. This place seems a bit too generic anyways."

As soon as she says that, a stunning guy with beautiful mesmerizing sky blue eyes who had been standing near them and eavesdropping turns around. He had medium length jet black hair and wore a dark gray long sleeved button up Guess shirt, some black Levi's, and a pair of Frye's boots. He smirks at Katherine's comment and leans on the booth she's sitting at.

"Really? Generic? I'd be careful about the comments you make. Someone important could actually overhear you." The man looked at all of them with so much cockiness.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and scoffed at him. "And why exactly should we care, I definitely don't see anyone of importance?"

The man straightened up and folded his arms into his chest as he started at Bonnie in particular, he liked her feistiness. "Name's Damon Salvatore, I'm the owner of this amazingly generic establishment." He gave them another smirk and then grinned when Bonnie widened her eyes and became embarrassed.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" Caroline looked at Bonnie and Katherine and silently scolded them. "Do not pay attention to them. They can be such trouble makers."

Katherine huffed. "Please, as if he scares me."

Damon narrowed his eyes but didn't take it personally. He turned to Bonnie. "And you, are you scared?" He teased.

Bonnie quirked an eyebrow. "As a matter of fact, no, I'm not. Can we just order, or do we have to wait some more for a server." She lifted her chin in a challenge.

Damon chuckled and straightened out. "Nope, go ahead and order, I will personally deliver it to you guys."

Neither Bonnie or Katherine would back down. Caroline however felt completely embarrassed and Matt just found it right down funny. Although this kind of behavior was normal for Kat, Bonnie was almost always polite and reserved, so the fact that Damon seemed to have rubbed her the wrong way and caused her to be bitchy in any form was a feat.

They ordered a number of things and true to his word Damon was the one to serve them. Caroline thanked him and they started eating.

"Oh my god this burger is freaking delicious." Caroline savored the taste. "I am totally going to be coming here on a regular basis."

Bonnie smiled. "I gotta say, I actually think this one of the best Niçoise salads I've ever had. As much as the owner may be annoying, the chef certainly knows what he's doing."

Katherine reluctantly nodded in agreement and kept eating her own salad.

"Glad to hear you're enjoying your meal." Damon walked up to their table to see if they needed anything else.

Bonnie glared at him. "Do you always eavesdrop on your customers conversations?"

Damon grinned. "Only those that capture my interest."

Caroline narrowed her eyes and looked between them. She'd never really seen Bonnie so worked up by a guy, it was weird.

Matt smiled knowingly and started talking to Damon. "Hey man, I think your place is great, definitely could use some improvements though. I don't know if your hiring but I would love to talk with you if you have any free time. My names Matt, this is my sister Caroline and our two friends Katherine and Bonnie." Matt introduced everyone and Bonnie became flustered when Damon's eyes landed on hers once again.

He kept looking at her even though he started addressing Matt. "I'm actually still looking to hire a few people so if you're really interested I would gladly set aside a time for an interview." He turned to Matt. "How bout tomorrow, say 10AM . We're usually slower in the mornings, so I can squeeze you in. Just bring your résumé."

Matt grinned. "Awesome. I will definitely be here, with some suggestions."

Katherine cleared her throat. "Okay, well, now that all that has been settled. Can we have the check, so we can get out of here?"

Caroline gasped. "Kat! Stop being so rude!"

Damon laughed. "No worries, I'll bring it right now." He glanced back at Bonnie as he walked away.

Caroline turned to Bonnie. "Oh my god, I think he likes you."

Bonnie scrunched her nose. "What! Of course he doesn't Care! And even if he did, I don't like him at all, he's arrogant."

Matt chuckled. "Oh you totally like him, I've never seen you react like that towards any guy."

"That's because I've never had the pleasure of meeting a guy whose mere presence grates on my nerves." She huffed.

Katherine quirked an eyebrow and smirked. "Methinks thou doth protest too much."

"Who's side are you on!" Bonnie grumbled.

They all laughed as Bonnie got even more irritated, which is exactly when Damon decided to show up with the check. He didn't linger though because he had to help out one of his servers. Matt grabbed the check and paid the bill, leaving a good amount of tip in there as well. They all got up and headed out. Bonnie discreetly tried to look behind to see Damon but was caught by said man. He had been looking over at her since he saw them getting up. He smirked at her and she blushed and hurried out.

"So your graduations are next month, how are we going to celebrate." Katherine asked the girls brightly.

Caroline answered first. "Since my ceremony is after Bonnie's, I figure we could have a joint party, maybe at our apartment; although it is kind of small."

"We could ask Alaric." Bonnie suggested. "He did say he would be glad to close down for the day so we could use the store. If anything we can probably move things around on the second floor and do it there. I mean it's not like we're gonna invite hundreds of people. "

"Well if all else fails and Damon hires me, maybe we can use his bar." He looked over at Bonnie mischievously.

Bonnie glared at him and punched him. "That's not funny! "

Matt started laughing. "Who said I was joking? It really would be a good place to celebrate, and you know it."

Caroline smiled. "Either way, we need to lockdown a place fast. Ask Damon tomorrow when you have your interview." Bonnie pouted but said no more. "We have to send invitations by the end of this week Bon, so make sure you send me your list so I can get on that. One more month and we're truly free."

"These finals are going to be hectic. Thank the gods that I actually like all my classes, and for open note tests." Bonnie laughed.

"I'm just glad that I'm almost done with my final project. Alaric is in love with it, he said he's proud of me. That I'm his best photography student. Apparently there's an artist in London that he's been mentoring like he has me, hopes we'll be able to meet some day. Actually the painting I absolutely love in is office, was done by him." Caroline thought about the dark lonely painting.

"I don't get why you like it so much, it's kind of depressing." Katherine scrunched her nose.

They crossed the street to their apartment as a car was honking at everyone; they all ignored it. Caroline shrugged. "It's captivating."

"Well who knows maybe one day you will meet him." Matt bumped his shoulder into her playfully.

Once back in their apartment, Caroline started making lists of everything that had to be done before graduation and for after. She wanted the the celebration to be the best one she'd ever planed yet.

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It had been more than 6 months after Klaus' first showing at The Sattchi and things had only just gotten better for him. His debut a few months after at The Gagliardi gallery had been a major success, he had sold every piece and Peter had gotten so many inquiries that he eventually told Klaus he wanted to do a special featured artist exhibit for him alone.

Klaus had been so inspired that he'd created more than enough pieces for the exhibit and more to come, he actually had to really edit his collection so he'd show his best ones.

Tonight would be his featured debut and he knew it would be big. Elijah had already told him that he'd been speaking with some of the most renowned collectors in the area as well as a few other curators from other galleries. Rebekah had even put in a good word to some of the photographers she knew. It was supposed to be a big event.

Klaus was extremely nervous but he looked forward to this exhibit. It wasn't like his first showing, he didn't need the validation anymore, he just hoped that someone would be able to look at his work and understand how much it meant to him.

Again, all of his siblings had come except for Henrik. His cast had finally been taken off, but he had school the next morning, so Elijah forbade him to come. Rebekah had been making some progress with her modeling, getting some much more high profile photo shoots and Kol had been invited to a few. They were all dressed to go and were only waiting for Rebekah to come down.

Klaus looked at his watch irritated. "Rebekah! It's nearly 6 o'clock, if you are not down here in 5 minutes we will leave without you!"

"Oh don't get your knickers in a twist. I'm here. I just needed to change clutches." Rebekah glided down the stairs in a beautiful long forest green Burberry dress. It fit her perfectly, and she matched it with one of her black clutches and black Louboutin papilloboots. Elijah smiled at her and offered his hand as she got to the last steps.

Kol whistled. "Wow, my sister the strumpet, actually looking quite lovely." Rebekah smacked him with her clutch. "Ow! I was complimenting you!" He rubbed his shoulder.

Rebekah ignored him. Klaus shook his head and kissed Rebekah on the cheek. "Now that you're here, lets be on our way. I can't be late to my own art exhibit."

Elijah had called for a car a while before, so they didn't have to wait at all. They climbed into their seats and were on their way. When they got there, there were cameramen and plenty of people already admiring Klaus's work.

Klaus took some pictures with Peter and then went around talking to some interviewers for various things.

After a couple of hours Kol looked around at everyone bored and sighed deeply. He couldn't stand being here anymore; this was the longest he'd been home since he'd been in school. He grabbed another glass of wine and downed it. He didn't want to ruin Klaus' night so he kept his mouth shut, but Elijah could tell something was wrong.

Rebekah was making the rounds introducing herself and talking up Klaus's work. She'd already made a couple of connections with certain photographers and even artists who wanted to use her for upcoming works. Elijah had finally accepted her choice and had since decided to start managing her as he did Klaus. The only difference so far was that Rebekah was much more social and driven, so she willingly met with as many people as she could to further her career. Although Klaus was driven, he was still a hermit, so he had to use each exhibit displaying his work to speak for him.

Klaus stood next to his biggest piece, a 60in x 40in panel of wood with a dark mesmerizing abstract painted on. He hadn't been able to finish his self portrait in time for the current exhibit, but he was looking forward to displaying it at some point.

One of the guests called his attention. "So, we can clearly see the turmoil in your art, it speaks volumes. Do you paint from experience or imagination?"

Klaus thought about this deeply. "I think a little of both. At this point in my life it's more about imagination and the residual effects of my past. I'm in a much better place as you can see." He smiled as he pointed around him.

The guest nodded in agreement and asked him a few more questions as a few others listened in. Elijah talked with Peter about setting up more work on display, and with a few guest about selling the ones already on display.

Rebekah went up to Kol and poked his shoulder. "Oi, what did I do now!" He rubbed his shoulder once again.

"Why are you sulking in the corner? I would expect you to at least try to have some fun, this is a big night for Nik." Rebekah smoothed down her dress and looked out into the crowd, she missed Kol rolling his eyes.

"I'm tired of this Bekah. I don't want to disappoint Lijah, but I feel restless. I think I'm going to leave by the end of the week." He looked at her regretfully.

Rebekah's shoulders slumped sadly. "I had a feeling, you've been very closed off. We've all noticed it. We won't be angry with you, you twit . We do actually understand your love of vagabonding." She smirked. "We love you Kol, whether you're here or on the other side of the world. We'll just miss your crazy arse." She smiled and hugged him.

Kol was completely taken aback. Rebekah had never really opened up to him, she'd always been closer to Klaus. "Thank you little sister." He hugged her back and kissed the side of her head.

Elijah sauntered into their private moment. "You're leaving aren't you?" He slowly took a sip from his drink.

Kol nodded sadly. "I really am sorry Lijah, I wish I could be more normal and just stay in one place."

Elijah shook his head and furrowed his brows. "Do not be sorry, I would not want to oblige you to stay. I want you to live and be happy. Each of us were dealt with an unfortunate past and must move on from that at our own time and way. I just want you to know that we are family and will always be here for you."

"Of course I know that. I hope one day I can settle down and be at peace the way you and Bekah have. Hell, even Nik seems to be moving on."

Rebekah scoffed. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, he's only just now admitting he even has a problem. He still needs a lot of work. But, I have faith the mentorship with Alaric will heal some wounds." She looked over at where Klaus was and her brothers turned to look too. He seemed happy, which lightened their hearts.

"Well don't say anything to Nik, at least not for tonight. I want him to enjoy all of this without worrying about me." He pleaded with them and they agreed.

By 11PM they called it a night and Klaus said his goodbyes and they headed home. He was riding on a high from his first featured debut and felt like everything was perfect for once. When they got home he noticed Kol's somber expression as Elijah and Rebekah said good night. "What's wrong Kol?"

Kol looked at him with wide eyes. "Nothing."

Klaus quirked an eyebrow and crossed his arms behind his back, just waiting. Kol hung his head, he hated when Klaus could read him that well.

He mumbled something and Klaus told him to speak up. "I'm going to be leaving again, by the end of the week."

Klaus sighed but nodded his head. "Okay, we'll miss you. You haven't left yet though so stop moping." Kol looked at him shocked. "Kol we aren't your keepers, you are free to do as you wish, all we ask from you is that you spend some time with us, together, as a family every once in a while."

Kol grinned. "Yes dear brother, thank you. I hope Henrik takes it as well as you all have."

Klaus smirked. "He will, he knows you better than all of us. I think he knows us all much more bloody well then we do ourselves." They both laughed.

"Yes, he is quite astute the lad." Kol shrugged and placed his hands in his pockets. "Okay well I'm going to bed."

Klaus watched as he went up and then headed to his studio. Inside, he took his suit jacket off and rolled up his sleeves as he grabbed his sketch pad and some charcoal pencils, then headed to his lounge chair to sketch for the night.

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"Geesh, I can't believe our graduation is next week." Bonnie was starting to get nervous.

It was late in the afternoon; Caroline looked over at her across the table, they were getting things prepared for graduation. Their joint celebration was already set to take place at Lilian's, Damon's Bar. Ever since Matt had started working there, it had become their newest hangout. He and Matt had made sure to clear out the 2nd floor, so that way it didn't have to interrupt the business. Much to Bonnie's displeasure, they had become fast friends and Damon had used every opportunity to try to get her attention.

"Yeah, I'm more worried our party, I hope everything goes smoothly. You really should be thanking Damon, I just don't understand why you're so resistant to him." Caroline shrugged as she smiled at her best friend. She knew Bonnie liked him, she was just too scared, she'd never liked a guy this much. The fact that it was Damon, who was always surrounded by beautiful girls throwing themselves at him, made it worse.

Bonnie sighed in resignation. She sat down on the dining chair and looked down at her hands as she twisted her fingers around nervously. "What if I give him a chance and he breaks my heart?" She looked up at Caroline shyly.

Caroline gave her a small smile and sat down next to her. "Bon, you need to take that risk. If you ever want to fall in love, your going to have to take a leap of faith and give someone a chance. Yeah, he may not be THE one but you'll never know if you don't open your heart."

Bonnie bit her lip and furrowed her brows. "Alright, well I have graduation to worry about right now. But I won't turn him down again if he asks me out. How bout you? How are you and Tyler? I haven't seen him around as much."

Caroline got up and started cleaning, the first sign of some trouble. "Um, we're good. He's been working a lot. His mom has been riding him about taking over the business." She gathered the rest of the graduation decorations for the party and placed them in a box ready to go.

Bonnie looked at her suspiciously, she was avoiding Bonnie's eyes. "Care? What's going on, you know you can talk to me, I won't tell Matt, if that's what's you're worried about."

Caroline stopped her organizing and looked up at Bonnie. "Okay. We've been fighting a lot. He's been having so many late nights at work; and I met one of his coworkers. I didn't like her or the way she was looking at Tyler. Sometimes I feel like I'm always going to be placed second in his life." Caroline raked a hand through her hair.

"Look, I know Katherine hates him, but you see a different side to him. So, what you have to decide is whether that side of him is enough for you. Does he make you feel like a princess?" Bonnie grinned at her. "Is he the prince you asked for when we were little?" They both laughed.

Caroline gave her a tight lipped smile and shrugged. "I just don't know if he is anymore."

Bonnie couldn't say anything else, she felt horrible for Caroline, but she also knew this was something she had to face head on; she couldn't live in denial. "Well don't make any drastic decisions until after we graduate, who knows, maybe things will get better once you're out of school."

"Yeah, you're right. Enough sadness, this is a time for us to celebrate. Both our finals are over and we have one more week till we are free! So, we have to make the most of it.

They heard the front door close and Matt came into the kitchen. "Hey guys. Are those the decorations? Damon said you can start putting everything up already if you want. And I have some awesome news." He looked at them excitedly as they waited in anticipation. "Damon saw me looking at apartments and asked me if I was moving, I told him I was. So….he said he had a place! He told me that he actually owns the entire building for Lilian's and that he lives in the top floor but it also has a second separate living area up there and he'd be willing to rent it out to me! Can you believe it!"

Caroline grinned at him. "Oh my god, that's fantastic. I guess us going down to that bar was the best idea we ever had. He was definitely meant to be in our lives." She nudged Bonnie and wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

Bonnie shook her head. "Real subtle Care." They all laughed.

"Katherine should be home around 7, or at least she said she would. We can go down to the bar after and start setting things up; she said she wants to be there to help. Oh and mom and dad said they'd be coming up here a couple of days before graduation." Caroline looked over at Bonnie. "They wanted to know if Grandma Sheila wanted to ride up with them or if she was going to travel on her own."

"I'll ask, she'll probably want to come wth your parents since my own will probably be a no show again." She looked at them sullenly.

Matt changed the subject. "Tyler came to the bar earlier, he had a business meeting there. He said he feels like a dick since he's had to work so much lately, that he misses you."

"Really?" Caroline tucked a curl behind her ear shyly. "I'll call him later tonight. Things have been so hectic for both of us."

"Yeah, things are gonna be changing pretty quickly around here again." Matt started thinking about everything he'd have to move out. He'd finally have his own space and wouldn't have to worry about bringing a girl over. As much as he loved Caroline, she was incredibly overprotective and could be down right bitchy to girls; add in Katherine and it was a mess. Bonnie was fairly polite but she would never get in the middle of a Care and Kat inquisition. "I think I may start moving things by the end of the month if everything goes as planned, I'm not sure."

Caroline's eyes widened. "So soon, but I haven't even gotten used to the idea."

Bonnie laughed and Matt chuckled. "This isn't about you though, and I said I'm not sure. I still need to look at the space, but I'm fairly hopeful it'll be great. It's an open space with a kitchen island and the restroom. Nothing massive, but compared to how I'm living now, I'm sure it'll seem massive to me."

Caroline pouted. "Fine."

A couple of hours later Katherine showed up with some more decorations and told them to hurry because she didn't have all day.

When they got to Lilian's the hostess called for Damon and he showed them the way up. "When you guys come next week, I'll have everything ready so you can come in through the back, then you won't have to worry about the customers." Bonnie was the last one to go in so he made the first move by leading her through with his hand on her lower back. He took the fact that she didn't bite his head off as the first good sign.

Bonnie for her own part was starting to breath fast as her heartbeat picked up and her lower back started tingling.

Once on the second floor he dropped his hand and went past everyone to open the door. "Matt and I cleared as much as we could. You guys are lucky this place is still new and I haven't figured out what to do with the space yet. Matt will have the key, incase I'm busy downstairs, to let you in. If you need anything else then you can ask me." He stood there awkwardly for a second before he started to head out.

Caroline nudged Bonnie as he passed by her. Unfortunately it was little too hard and she bumped into him instead. He steadied her and Bonnie glared at Caroline fiercely. Damon quirked an eyebrow, but smiled.

Bonnie blushed but used the opportunity to talk to him as Caroline dragged Matt and Katherine further into the party area. "Hi, sorry about that."

Damon grinned at her. "No worries, it's fine by me. I love having beautiful girls fall on me."

Bonnie rolled her eyes but chuckled. "Yeah, I bet you do." She joked. "Look, I just wanted to thank you and invite you." She looked down as she played with the strings on her dress nervously.

Damon beamed at her, and lifted her chin. "I'd be glad to go, but what am I invited too?"

"Oh! My graduation and the party of course." She stated excitedly, even forgetting he was still holding her chin.

He let go of her face. "Ill be there. Unfortunately right now, I do have to go back down. But meet me when you leave so I can get your number."

Bonnie nodded. "Yeah, of course. Go on, I'll see you in a bit."

Damon smiled at her one more time and headed down. Bonnie became giddy and turned to her friends. That's when she saw the Katherine and Caroline were staring at her, then they squealed and ran over to her and asked for all the details.

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 _ **1 year after the debut exhibit**_

As promised, Elijah and Klaus had researched a few music schools for Henrik to complete his sixth form. After debating for a couple of days they gave Henrik the choice and he chose to go to Tring Park: School for the Performing Arts for their commercial music program and so far he had been thriving.

He loved every aspect of what they taught him. But he definitely gravitated towards the composing part as well as the production. He loved being able to bring everything together to create music.

He'd even joined one of the rock bands formed by a couple of students. Although he missed some of his friends from secondary school, he'd already made more friends with a lot more in common. In fact he'd even become best friends with one of his band mates. He and Stefan had hit it off immediately.

They had been practicing in the garage when Klaus walked in. He listened for bit before he tried to get their attention. It wasn't until they had finished the song that they heard him.

Henrik set his guitar down apologetically. "Sorry Nik, we didn't hear or see you."

"Yes well, I figured as much. Hello Stefan, you haven't come around in a few days." Klaus clasped his hands behind his back.

Stefan set his drum sticks down and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I got in trouble. My father told me I couldn't go out, till today."

Klaus smiled knowingly. "Giuseppe is a good man, I'm sure he was just trying to do what's best." He turned to Henrik. "Elijah and I want to speak to you once you're done."

Henrik looked confused, it almost sounded like he was in trouble. "Did I do something wrong?"

Klaus shook his head. "No, it's good news. Just come find us when you've finished practice." He turned around and walked away.

Henrik glanced at Stefan and he just shrugged at him and picked up his drumsticks once more. Henrik shook his head and grabbed his guitar and they started playing again.

After Stefan had left, Henrik went in search of Klaus and Elijah. He found Elijah in his study looking at some paperwork. He look up at Henrik when he walked in. "Hi Lijah, Klaus said you both wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, let's find Niklaus. I think he may be in his art studio. Come." Elijah picked up the paperwork he was looking at and lead the way to the studio. Klaus was sitting in his lounge chair with his sketch pad. "Niklaus, Henrik is ready for us."

Klaus set his pencil and pad aside and stood, clasping his hands behind his back. "Elijah and I discussed something that we want your opinion on. We wanted to know if you would prefer to have your own practice space instead of the garage?"

Henrik stared at them confused. "What do you mean?"

"What Niklaus is asking, is whether you would like us to have a room constructed for you and your music? Niklaus and myself have our own work area and we both imagine it would benefit you to have a music room for yourself." Klaus had been the one to bring it to his attention and he was inclined to agree.

Henrik's eyes bulged in shock. "You would really do that?! I would love my own space where I could play and compose music!" Henrik was grinning with excitement.

"Did I just hear you offer Henrik his own room?" Rebekah wandered in. She'd just come from a photo shoot. Henrik ambled over to her and told her the exciting news. "Why was I never offered a room for my work.?" She pouted at her brothers.

"You were, Rebekah. Your closet, is your sanctuary." Klaus countered. They had expanded her closet pretty early on, it was almost the size of another bedroom. They knew how much she loved playing or working with different clothes.

Rebekah thought about this a little and conceited their point so she inclined her head in agreement. "Well I have my own news to share. I'm not sure how happy you'll be." She smiled tightly as she looked downcast. "I got a job offer."

Elijah smiled. "Congratulations, that's a good thing is it not?" He set the paperwork for the construction down and placed his hands in his pockets.

"What is the job for?" Klaus narrowed his eyes as he spoke.

Rebekah sighed. "It's for a modeling agency, in New York." Klaus became tense while Elijah became thoughtful.

"Well I think that's awesome news Bekah!" Henrik barreled into her for a hug and she smiled broadly.

"I am happy for you as well Rebekah, I know how hard you have been working to rise up in the fashion world."

Rebekah beamed at Elijah then looked at Klaus expectantly. She had always been closest to Klaus, she didn't know how he would react. "What about you Nik, are you happy for me?"

Klaus clenched his jaw and inhaled, then turned and walked away.

Rebekah looked devastated as she turned to Elijah. He was not happy with how Klaus was acting, he nodded to her and followed after Klaus.

"Niklaus, stop." Klaus halted as Elijah neared him. "Why did you act so rudely with Rebekah?"

Klaus sighed and looked down, he looked sad when he turned to Elijah. "Kol has left, now Rebekah, how long before you and Henrik leave me."

"Niklaus this is not about you, she is not trying to leave you, she is just following her dreams the same way you are. It is just going to momentarily take her to New York. Who knows, maybe one day we will join her." Elijah patted his back and tried to lead him back to the other.

Klaus reluctantly went with him. When he saw Rebekah, he went up to her and hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. "I'll miss you Bekah. I'm proud of you baby sister." He said softly and Rebekah started crying.

Elijah smiled sadly. "When do you leave?"

Rebekah wiped her eyes as she tried to gain control of her emotions. "In 2 weeks time. I need to meet with my agent and she wanted to speak with you since you've been managing me so far."

"Have her call me to set up a meeting time. We will try to make your move as smooth as possible so you needn't fret."

Henrik was grinning at all the news. "We should go out to celebrate! You know I'm gonna visit you at some point, right."

Rebekah laughed and grabbed her purse as they headed out. This was going to be the biggest step in her life, she was leaving her entire family for her career, but she knew it wouldn't be forever.


	8. Chapter 7

**Yay! I got this done semi early again! I'm really pleased with myself and hope I can continue writing like this, I've really been in a writing groove. A couple of things, there were a lot of time jumps, mostly in the Mikaelson world. As I've mapped it out, they're timeline moves from 2006-2016, whereas the Scooby Gang's goes from 2009-2016. That's why it took me so long to build the Mikaelson's history more, so you could see them grow more too. I'm sorry if it was too long or boring.**

 **Oh and if you couldn't tell I'm a Bamon shipper. What can I say, I read the books when they first came out and I've shipped them since. Although, who doesn't love a good triangle ;)**

 **Alrighty now, so here's the next chapter. It's a LOT longer, like 40% more than my usual, but I didn't want you guys to have to wait another chapter. I would have finished it sooner but I had a few unexpected things pop up that took precedence. A couple of people wondered when they would finally meet, well guess what, I hope you like today's ending.**

 **Please review, I actually do like to know your opinions and take some into consideration. I want to thank all of those who've already commented, favorited and followed! You guys are awesome. I was so surprised by how many view I had the last chapter (over 400!)Blew my mind! And is greatly appreciated!**

 **Without further ado….**

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 _ **2 yrs later, across the Atlantic Ocean**_

"I'm thinking of applying to NYU." Henrik announced, stopping Klaus and Elijah in their tracks. He shrugged; they had each been focused on their own work. Elijah, working on a press release for one of his clients, while Klaus had been going through some paperwork that Alaric had sent him.

Elijah thought about this. "Why? There are plenty of conservatories here. Is this because you would like to be closer to Rebekah?"

Henrik furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "No it has nothing to do with Bekah, well not nothing, it's another added factor. But I want to go because they have a great music program. As much as I love to play music, that's not what I want to focus on. I like composing and even sound engineering more. Both me and Stefan have been looking into their many music majors. He's thinking of applying too."

Klaus rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "If you want to go there, we will support you. No matter how hard it will be for us."

Elijah looked across at his younger brother, he'd grown in the past 2 years from the petulant boy who'd only thought of himself when Rebekah had announced that she would be leaving. He smiled slightly and glanced back at Henrik. "What Niklaus said is correct, we will support you. But first, you must decide which program you want to be in and then apply. That does not mean I will allow you to only apply there. You must apply to more than that one university. You still have more than half a year to go, so you must also focus on finishing your coursework to first graduate."

Henrik grinned at them excitedly. "I will, don't worry Lijah. Me and Stefan have been staying on top of our work. We really want to go to NYU so we need to have flawless transcripts."

"I'm glad. If you get in, then we will discuss your living arrangements and anything else that will have to be addressed." Elijah tapped his fingers on the counter before looking back down at the press release he'd been creating.

Klaus regained his focus and read through the pages for the items he would need. He was looking to apply for the opportunity to paint a mural for London. Alaric knew the man in charge, but he still wanted Klaus to follow the same procedure as everyone else and get in on his own merit, to a certain degree.

Not only did he have this to worry about, but Rebekah was already planning a party for Henrik's graduation and he was continually getting instructions and demands from her for preparations on a party she wanted to throw him.

Even if Rebekah was currently in New York, she did not plan on leaving Henrik without a fabulous graduation celebration. She'd already enquired about renting out Park Hall for the event. She had arranged for one of his favorite bands to play for him and had Klaus hire the London Event Rentals for practically everything they could do. Renting out Park Hall wasn't just for the performance of the band, it was also meant for a day after breakfast and a relaxing day for those who would attend.

She asked Klaus to find out who Henrik would like to invite, so he in turn had asked Stefan which of their friends he thought should be far they had a short list of 15 people, not including the family and Stefan.

They wanted the celebration to be somewhat of a surprise. Henrik knew he'd get a party, but he would never image something so big. Even Kol had been envious when he heard about it through Rebekah, and the fact that he would be in Tokyo instead of the graduation wasn't lost on him.

Klaus was a bit overwhelmed as he'd taken on most of the responsibility. Elijah had enough on his plate with his business and clientele; he didn't think it would be right to add any of the work onto his shoulders; Klaus just had to prioritize things.

Henrik's phone started ringing and he answered it. "Hello mate. Of course you can come over; we have to finish the last of the project anyway. If we get it done now, we'll have more time to research the majors. Okay, half past 2? Okay, I'll be waiting for you." He hung up and looked at his older brothers. "That was Stefan, we're going to try to finish the composition for our class."

Elijah inclined his head in acknowledgement; Henrik stood and excused himself, leaving the 2 older brothers alone. Elijah regarded Klaus' posture and sighed. "Niklaus, Rebekah told me you have been taking on all the responsibility for the graduation party, is that correct?"

Klaus regarded him, annoyed. "Of course Elijah, you have too much to do for your business, I'll take care of it."

"Niklaus that is not your decision to make, though it is greatly appreciated. I would actually like to be a part of making Henrik's graduation party a success." Elijah sat in one of the chairs across from Klaus.

Klaus narrowed his eyes slightly. "Well then, your wish is my command. I'll let you be in charge of the guest list and since Stefan will be over soon, you'll be able to ask him for confirmations."

Elijah accepts and figures it should be easy enough. "And how is your proposal for the mural going?"

Klaus frowned. "It's going good. I have a lot of paperwork to fill out before I can even show any of my actual work. Alaric has been very helpful, as per usual."

"Ah yes, and how is he?" Elijah kept going through the press release for the rebranding of the company he'd been hired by. It was a fairly unknown company who'd had one of the worst PR's. He'd been hired to rebrand them and basically relaunch the company to try and gain better numbers, otherwise the company would sink.

Klaus looked up from what he was doing and leaned back into his chair. "He's doing great. NYU is on summer break; he's thinking of coming to visit and bringing Meredith finally."

Elijah smiled. "That would be quite lovely, it's been a while since we've actually seen him. Rebekah sees him quite often it seems, and has made fast friends with Meredith. Which is utterly shocking due to the fact that they are completely different."

Klaus shrugged. "They're both women, I am sure they have plenty in common. Which reminds me, she said she'll be coming right before Henrik's graduation and that we should have her room prepared before then."

"We will, I'll make sure everything is set up and ready for her return. Kol has stated that he will try to be here for the graduation, but it is unclear whether he can get away in time." Elijah rested his chin in his hand and sighed.

Klaus looked at him pitifully. He couldn't understand why Elijah kept thinking Kol would eventually grow out of his love for traveling. It would be a miracle when that day came. "Well don't worry about Kol, he can take care of himself, he's old enough. Henrik is the one we need to take care of still. Although, if he does go to NYU that responsibility may have to lay on Bekah's shoulders."

"It'll be difficult to see him go to the states, but this just may be the push we need for you and I to start doing business over there." Elijah informed him.

Klaus squinted as he thought about this. He knew he eventually wanted to go to New York to display his work, but he hadn't thought it would be this soon. He did agree with Elijah though, if Rebekah and Henrik would now be over there, maybe it was time for him to start thinking about it too. Alaric would be ecstatic and would surely call in as many favors to get his foot in the door. "I think you may be right. We'll look into finding something permanent if Henrik does choose NYU."

They heard the doorbell ring and Henrik ran down the stairs to answer. Stefan greeted everyone and the boys walked over to Henrik's music studio to finish their composition project. If things went the way they thought they would then perhaps they would all find themselves in New York as soon as the next year.

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Damon was in his office when his phone beeped. He looked at it and smiled, it was a text from Bonnie telling him they were all on their way for the party. He still couldn't believe she'd truly invited him to her graduation. He'd brought her some flowers and kissed her cheek when she had finally been allowed to find her family and friends after the ceremony; unfortunately he hadn't been able to stay long so he wasn't able to meet any of her family. He'd also bought her a beautiful frame for her tassel and graduation picture which he was planning to give her at the party. So far, he was safe to say they were at least dating.

A few minutes later, one of his servers told him Matt and his party had arrived and they were heading up. He called his head waiter and hostess and told them he'd be upstairs for a few hours and that only to call him if there was no other option. He trusted his manager Jesse, so he felt they could hold down the fort for a while.

He went upstairs and heard all the celebration before he even walked through the doors and became a bit nervous once he'd past the doors. All of these people had either grown up with or brought up Bonnie. He did not want to make a wrong impression with any of them. As soon as he saw Bonnie, he walked over to her and she beamed at him.

She barreled into him for a hug and then looked up at him as she hung on. "Hi. Let me introduce you to my Grams; oh and let me take that."She grabbed the gift and put it on the table where there was already a small pile then she grabbed his hand and led him to her grandmother. "Grams this is Damon."

Shiela looked up and smiled at Damon, she reached out to shake his hand. "I am so glad to meet you, Bonnie has been talking my ear of about you."

Damon grinned and looked down at Bonnie as she blushed. "All good things I hope. It's very nice to meet you too Mrs. Bennett."

"Oh don't you dare call me Mrs. Bennett! You can call me Sheila or Grams the way the girls do. On behalf of everyone here we also want to thank you for letting us use your establishment for the girls celebration, it means a lot to us." Shiela patted his hand as she let it go.

Matt saw Damon and came over. "Hey man, who's taking care of downstairs?" Matt sipped on his beer.

"Jesse is, but I also pulled Anastasia and Corey aside. Let them know I'd be here in case Jesse can't handle it."

Bonnie listens in on their conversation until Caroline calls her over. She excuse herself and heads over to Caroline and Katherine. "Yeah? You need me?"

Katherine looks up from her phone. "Yeah, my mom and dad said all of our parents want to give us a surprise. Apparently it was my dad's idea. He wanted to do it when I graduated but then thought it would be better to wait until both of you did so we could all enjoy it. I have no idea what it is. He said we'll get it after all the other gifts, but I just wanted to let you two know."

Caroline scrunched up her nose. "Huh, wonder what it could be." She shrugged. "Well we'll find out soon enough. So, Damon seems to be hitting it off with Grams, and Matt has been hanging out with him more than Tyler." Caroline looked around, everyone had noticed that Tyler still hadn't arrived.

Bonnie smiled happily. "Yeah I know, Damon's kind of grateful for Matt's friendship. He's still pretty new to this area and has been pretty busy with the startup of Lilian's; he hasn't't had much time to make friends yet. He's kind of glad Matt's gonna move in too, he won't be as lonely as he was."

"Who would have thought mister arrogant would actually become a big part of our lives." Katherine rolled her eyes. "I still think he can be a cocky smart ass."

"Why thank you Kitty Kat, I do so love those kind words." Damon draped he's hand over Bonnie's shoulder as she held back a laugh.

Caroline snickered and looked at Katherine. She had on a murderous glare directed straight at Damon, while he just cocked an eyebrow and widened his smirk.

"We so didn't tell him you hated that name." Caroline assured Katherine.

Katherine huffed. "Whatever." She turned around and walked away.

A few minutes later, Alaric showed up with Meredith. Caroline walked over to them and hugged them both and dragged them over to meet her parents. He had played a huge role in her success at school and she knew he would always be her mentor. Her parents were ever grateful and thanked him for all his help.

Tyler didn't end showing up until an hour after Alaric and didn't even apologize, he didn't think it was a big deal. Caroline just breathed in and let it go, she did not want to ruin her own celebration.

After a couple of hours, the parents declared it was gift giving time. Katherine made it her mission to be the first one. She gave Caroline a Lomo Diana F+ Medium Format 75mm camera with a few different rolls of film and she gave Bonnie an Intuos pen tablet, for her designing; the girls cried and embraced fiercely.

Bonnie got Caroline the newest version of Adobe Creative Suite, she was so happy and couldn't wait to start playing around with any new features. Caroline got Bonnie a years worth for a starting website. Bonnie was ecstatic cuz she'd already started getting ideas on what her website would be.

After that, Damon gave Bonnie his gift, which she and her Grams loved, she knew exactly which picture would go in there. Matt stated his gift would make sense later on; he got all 3 girls a Toiletry Train Case by PurseN and they loved it. They didn't really understand why he got them that, but he reassured them it would make sense soon.

Tyler tried to make his gift seem like a much bigger deal. He pulled out a little baby blue box, to which Caroline was actually hoping it wasn't a ring. "Here you go babe." She opened it up and it was a pair of earrings. She frowned and Katherine snorted. Tyler glared at Katherine. "What? You don't like it?"

Caroline really looked at him. "I love them, but…my ears aren't pierced." He looked at her flabbergasted and she started questioning whether he even knew her. Even if she could wear them, she probably wouldn't. It was as if Tyler hadn't payed attention to what she cared about. She sighed and put the earrings aside.

Alaric had already given Bonnie her gift, it was a mentorship with the fashion editor at Vogue. For Caroline he had brought something he knew she would appreciate and cherish. It was an art piece he'd had his eyes on for quite a while. He had this gut feeling that it would be perfect in her life. The piece had been created by the only other person he'd ever mentored, Klaus Mikaelson. He'd started the self portrait around 4 years ago but hadn't truly been able to finish it until recently. When Alaric saw it he told him he wanted it, that he had someone in mind for it. Klaus had been reluctant at first but then he'd figured, the more people had his work, the more it would be on display; which would mean more people would enquire about his work.

Alaric pulled the painting out for Caroline to unveil. "I hope you like it as much as I think you will."

Caroline looked at Alaric suspiciously and proceeded to take the tarp off the painting. Her eyes widened and lit up and she looked at Alaric quickly before looking at the painting again. She held her hand over the painting and started to take it all in, she touched the painting and felt the different brush strokes. She was in complete awe, then she turned to Alaric and launched herself at him and he started laughing.

"This is a Mikaelson isn't it?" She asked excitedly.

Alaric nodded. "It's one he actually started almost 4 years ago. When he finally finished it, he showed it to me and I just knew it was meant for you. It's a very important and sentimental piece as you can probably tell."

"It's him, isn't it? It's really amazing; I absolutely love it." Caroline just stared at the painting finding new aspects about it each time she looked at it.

Katherine just didn't get it. "I still say his stuff is depressing."

Caroline turned to look at her. "But that's the whole point, the fact that you can feel all this saddens and pain, all of it is conveyed through his brushstrokes and the images he's captured."

They all admired the painting for a bit before Grayson Gilbert called for everyone's attention. "Okay, so this last gift is from all us parents to all three of you girls. You have all made us so immensely proud and we just wanted to give you something worthwhile. And for you Katherine, this is also a bit over do." He turned to Liz.

She smiled and looked at the girls fondly. "We know your love for adventure and travel, so we decided that you girls deserved a trip!"

The girls looked at them confused and in shock. Bonnie cleared her throat. "What do you mean by a trip?"

Grams picked up her hand and explained. "We got you girls a weeks trip to London. Katherine wasn't able to experience South America the way you two did and Grayson was going to give her a trip last year but we all talked and figured she wouldn't have as much fun without you and Caroline with her. So we all pitched in for a group trip once you were all finally done with school and could enjoy it together."

Bill and Stephan decided to interject then. "We also kind of took it upon ourselves to add something." They looked at the rest of the adults sheepishly. "I know this was meant as a gift for the girls, but I also wanted to celebrate Matt's achievements. He moved here and changed his whole life around and I think for the better. We never got to congratulate you when you graduated since you didn't even let us know you were enrolled, so me and Stephan got you a ticket as well. You can go with the girls or go on your on. That would be up to you." They embraced Matt as he just stood there.

Matt was completely taken aback, he had definitely not expected that. The girls became giddy and started making plans already; Matt eventually joining them. They knew they would all go together; Tyler basically invited himself, which annoyed Katherine, but they were all looking forward to the trip. The small party kept going for another hour, then the parents decided it was time to leave and head back to Mystic Falls. They said their goodbyes and lots of hugs and congrats commenced until they were all gone.

Damon told them to not worry about cleaning up, he would send one of his people up to take care of everything and that they could leave the gifts and pick them up later. They made plans to discuss the trip in greater detail the next day, then Katherine and Matt headed home while Tyler convinced Caroline to head to a bar for drinks. Damon invited Bonnie upstairs to his loft and she accepted, it would be her first time going up there but not her last.

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Elijah stood in front of the hallway mirror as he buttoned up his suit jacket and smoothed it down. He had taken the evening off knowing Rebekah would be coming, throwing commands as soon as she arrived so the party, the following day, would go off without a hitch. So far everything was in its place, unless she had changed something at the last minute, which wasn't out of the question when it came to her. He heard a car pull up and before Rebekah even had time to ring the door, he had already opened it and led her in.

"Lijah! Oh how I've missed you. Is everything set? I need to make a few more phone calls and make sure The Kooks will be here on time tomorrow. They were supposed to be here already but apparently they ran late and missed their flight." Rebekah huffed frustrated. "You would think they would be as prepared as can be, I'm paying them a pretty penny."

Elijah smiled slightly. "Hello Rebekah." He leaned down to kiss her cheek and she shut up and smiled brightly up at him.

"Alright, now we're is the man of the hour!" She shouted, letting her presence be know to all within earshot.

Not a minute later, Henrik was barreling down the stairs headed for Rebekah. "Bekah! I missed you, did you hear I'm going to be going to NYU! That means I get to see you more often!"

Rebekah laughed. "Yes, Nik told me. I'm so delighted, you are going to love it over there, it's bloody fantastic. There's so many different music outlets, I think it'll be perfect for you. Where is Nik, by the way?"

Henrik smirked. "He went out last night with some girl, I think he stayed with her." He

"Are you joking?! The arse choose to stay with some slag, instead of being here to greet me." Rebekah scoffed completely insulted. "You and Elijah are the saving grace of the men in our family, I hope you know that."

Henrik shook his head but took it as complement. He had never really approved of the lifestyle Kol and Klaus lived, when it came to women. He wasn't as jaded as them; maybe it was the fact that he hadn't seen his parents turbulent marriage or at least didn't remember it. Though it wasn't as if any of his siblings had been in a committed loving relationship either. Yet, he still believed in love; still believed that his brothers and sister would find that one person at some point.

Elijah ignored her tantrum and grabbed her bags. "I'll take your things to your room."

"Thank you Lijah." She turned back to Henrik and pulled him into the living room. "So, when are you planning to come to New York, when does school start?"

"I'll probably be leaving by the 20th. The uni's in the states starts around September. NYU has an orientation week the end of August. Alaric said said he would be glad to help me and Stefan out when we get there. Nik and Lijah are thinking of getting a property there." Henrik told her excitedly.

"It's bloody expensive there, I'm not sure proper New York would be best for a home. A flat for one is about as much as I'd pay for there. I'll let Nik know he should look at the neighboring cities." Rebekah thought for a bit. "Enough about that, are you excited for tomorrow?!"

Henrik nodded enthusiastically. "Nik said you went to the extreme. Thank you Bekah, it means a lot to me. I hope you know how much I appreciate what you've done." He hugged her.

Rebekah's eyes became misty. "Oh you fool, you're the baby, little one. We all love you and are so proud. I know Kol wishes he could be here and that he's very angry at himself for having to miss it. I honestly believe this is going to be the first of many instances where he'll start hating his traveling."

Henrik agreed with her, she didn't know this was actually the second time Kol was unable to come to a function and he'd berated himself for it. His traveling was becoming more of a nuisance than the fun it was meant to be. He was starting to see less of an appeal to it.

They heard the front door close and Klaus walked in. He set his keys down and heard voices coming from the living room so he headed in there. He smiled wide when he saw Rebekah and went in to hug her.

Rebekah saw him and smacked his hands away. "Oh don't you dare, you chose to shag a trollop rather than be here when I arrived." She pouted as she looked away.

Klaus looked at her confused then saw Henrik looking guilty and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him. "Did you tell her that? Not that it's either of your business, I did shag her but I did not stay with her. I just went to my studio to paint and lost track of time, as usual."

Henrik was completely embarrassed while Rebekah just scoffed at him. "Bollocks! You still weren't here to greet me."

Klaus rolled his eyes "I'm sorry sweetheart, I won't slight you again. Now, is everything ready for tomorrow?"

Rebekah signaled that it was. "A few more rings to make sure and everything will be set. We will be at the venue by 4 or 5 o'clock and things will start at 6. All of the friends Stefan informed us you would like to attend have already confirmed. At what time must we be at your school?"

"By 10AM; the ceremony will start at 10:30 and the performance will be at 1." Elijah stated as he walked in. "I am quite thrilled to hear your final composition Henrik." Rebekah and Klaus agreed.

They all moved towards the dining room, it was almost 6, so Alexander their chef, would be serving dinner soon. Rebekah called in the few phone calls she needed to and confirmed that the band had gotten on the plane already and that they would be on time for the party. Everyone wanted to get some rest early before they had to wake up for the graduation.

The next morning everyone was up and ready to go by 9AM. They drove up to the school and Henrik separated from them to get ready for the ceremony. He would be siting down eventually but they needed him to make sure everything was correct. Once everything was set, he and Stefan would join the rest of the students and crowd. The ceremony and performances went by fairly quickly and soon enough Henrik and all the other students had become graduates of Tring Park.

When he went to his family they all hugged and congratulated him. Rebekah told him they would be going straight to Worcestershire and that they would all be changing there. Henrik was stunned once there, Rebekah had rented out a castle basically and by the looks of it there would be some live music as well.

"Who's going to be playing?" Henrik asked curiously.

"It's a surprise! You'll find out soon enough!" Rebekah scolded as she came down from having changed.

They heard a car coming in and Henrik ran out to see if it was Stefan. It was another one of his friends and they gave each other a friendly pat. A couple of more cars started coming, so Klaus left the door open and Rebekah went to the barn to call and see how far away the band was.

By 5:30 almost everyone invited had arrived, so Rebekah decided to start things early and made the announcement. She congratulated all the students and told them she and her brothers were very proud of Henrik and that they were looking forward to what he would accomplish at NYU.

Right then she got a text letting her know the band had arrived. She announced that they DJ would start the music and that the band would be setting up to play in a bit. She grabbed Henrik and Stefan and dragged them to the back.

"Okay, you wanted to know who I got you. So I'm going to introduce you to them. Do not make me look like a twit." She opened the door to the room they were in. "Henrik, this is Luke Pritchard, lead singer of The Kooks."

Henrik's eyes widened as he looked on speechless. Stefan started bouncing where he was standing and introduced himself when he realized Henrik was just standing there frozen. Rebekah smacked him and he jumped.

"Oh I am a huge fan! You're music is brilliant!" Henrik grinned as he shook his hand and the other band members.

"Rebekah said you two play music as well?" Luke asked.

"Us?! Oh no, not even close what you do. We like to write music and melodies, but we don't truly play for the public, at least not as of yet." Henrik answered.

Luke nodded. "Well you're still young, you still have time. Do you just do the melodies or do you write lyrics too?"

"So far I've only written a couple of songs, more than anything I've just composed the melodies; Stefan is more of the lyricist, which is why we work so well together." Henrik looked at Stefan and shrugged.

"Well then all you need is a vocalist at some point, then you will have a good mix." Luke informed them.

Henrik thought about that. "You're right, maybe when we get to NYU we'll find that person."

"Okay, well we are about to go on, it was great to meet you, and wish you all the best. Maybe one day you'll write a song for us." Luke shook his hand and turned back to the band.

Henrik and Stefan started acting silly as they walked back to their friends. The Kooks were their favorite band, so getting to meet and talk with them was dream come true. Henrik squeezed Rebekah fiercely and thanked her profusely for having done all of this for him. She smiled and told him it was worth it for her baby brother. When the lights went down and the ambiance changed, everyone got ready for the performance. The next day they would all get an amazing breakfast and time to relax.

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Caroline triple checked her suitcases and pulled out her phone triple checking the list she'd made. She heard Bonnie and Katherine finishing up their checklist and knew that Matt was already in the living room waiting for them. He was only taking 1 suitcase and a large duffle bag while the girls were each taking 2 suitcases. According to the them it was a weeks worth of all the necessities.

She heard her phone chirp telling her she had a new message, it was Tyler letting her know that he was outside with the taxi van. "Alright guys, Tyler's downstairs already. Let's get going! Make sure you have your passport and ticket on hand so you don't have to search for it."

Katherine pushed her suitcases out to the living room and grabbed her carry on tote. "Yes mother!" She smiled at Caroline's annoyed face.

Bonnie grabbed her laptop bag and attached it to her suitcase then wheeled them out. She placed her phone in her pocket and looked back into her room narrowing her eyes in thought. She shrugged, if she'd forgotten anything, she figured she'd just have to buy it in London.

Matt held the front door open for the girls to come out. "I can't believe your each bringing 2 suitcases. You're just gonna end up buying clothes over there anyways."

Katherine looked at him like he was insane. "Just because we MAY buy clothes, does not mean we should come unprepared. We need options for every day." She held her head high as they got into the elevator.

Matt looked at her exasperated. "Whatever, I'm glad I'll at least have Tyler for some guy stuff. Wish Damon could have come."

Bonnie sighed sadly; she had actually asked if he would come, but he'd said no. Not only could he not leave the restaurant since it had just opened, but he also felt it wasn't a good idea. Him and Bonnie had only been dating for a month, he thought it would be to big of a step to go on a vacation with her already, even if it was with a group of people.

The elevator dinged and they all filed out into the lobby and headed for the exit. Tyler was leaning on the taxi van, drumming his fingers impatiently when he looked up and saw them coming. He tapped the back door and the cabbie opened it as he stepped out.

"Hi babe. You ready for some fun? I have a few places I want you to see when we get there." He pulled her in for a kiss and she obliged for a second before she moved away to help put the bags in the cab.

"Okay Ty, we gotta make sure it fits with what me and the girls planned already though. We'll see once we get there. This is gonna be a long flight; at least when we went to South America, we had a couple of stops." She thanked the cabbie and they all jumped into the van.

Katherine pulled her phone out of her tote. "I am turning my phone off already, it is officially my vacation and I am not answering anything from HBO. I am so excited to get there already. I know it's not even a fraction of the time you guys went to South America, but this is such a big deal for me. I hope this is only the first of many traveling trips I make."

It took them about half an hour to get to La Guardia and another half hour to get the bags checked in and for them to get to their gate. They waited there for their flight to board and then they were off.

Almost 8 hours later, they had landed in London Heatrow Airport; then waited for a big enough airport van that could take them to the London Marriott Maida Vale. They had originally just booked 2 rooms, but Katherine wanted to stay here in style so she'd taken it upon herself to switch the reservation and got the Presidential Suite. It would be pricey but worth it in the end, and everyone was going to pitch in anyway. They had planned their trip to arrive before check in. As it was, it was only 1PM when they got to the hotel. They asked the concierge if the suite was already available to go in and they told them it was. Katherine filled out all the necessary info out and they got 3 key cards, and were led to the suite.

It was huge, Katherine was very happy to say the least. The girls squealed once the bellboy was gone and ran to the rooms. Each room had a king bed so they didn't really care who got which room. It had been decided early on that Bonnie and Katherine would share a room as well as Caroline and Tyler; for once Matt got to have his own room.

Everyone took their bags into their designated room and unpacked. It took the guys hardly any time at all, but the girls took more than twice as long. Eventually they were all unpacked and had all reconvened in the living area.

Matt called everyone's attention. "Alright, so I hope you girls aren't too tired because I actually have a surprise for you."

Bonnie looked at him briefly. "Another one, you didn't have to get us something else."

"Well, this is for all of us. But, I know you three will be ecstatic." Matt grinned.

"Okay Matty, stop keeping us in suspense. What is it?" Caroline tugged on his arm and he laughed.

"So I actually got us tickets to see Ed Sheeran." The girls screamed and he kept talking over them. "The doors open at 7PM, so you basically have 3 hours to get ready." Matt looked over at Tyler and they both shook their heads as the girls kept screaming. They went to their rooms to ready themselves and soon enough, they were ready to go.

"Let's try the tube! It says it's literally like down the street, then it's just a short bus trip or some walking and sightseeing until we get to Wembley Stadium." Bonnie consulted her phone app to make sure.

Katherine hooked her arm through Bonnie's. "Thank god you're a wiz at apps."

"Well I've kinda been looking at it since last week and its not too different to riding the New York subways." Bonnie glanced back at everyone.

"True, but I know I still would have gotten confused." Caroline agreed to an extent.

They hoped onto the overground at Kilburn High Road and stayed on there until they reached Wembley Central. When they got off they headed to the Wembley Central bus station and got onto Route 244. They got off at the Wembley Stadium station; then it would just be a short walk to the stadium itself.

Before they headed to the stadium Matt looked at his watch. "Well, we still have an hour to kill, how bout we get something quick to eat that way we don't have to pay for anything overpriced inside." They looked to Bonnie and she smirked at them as she pulled out her phone.

"Although I want to try some new food while we're here, I kinda just want good old fashioned fast food right now. So how about we go for something simple. There's a sandwich shop called Peppercorn not too far from here." She grinned at them and they followed her lead.

It definitely wasn't too far a walk from the station or stadium. Both of the boys bought a sandwich combo that had honey ham, avocado, cheese, and olives. Caroline got a roast turkey panini combo with avocado, mozzarella, and onions. Bonnie decided to get a chicken pasta with some coleslaw on the side and Katherine got a salad box with some samosas. They took their food and water and headed towards the Wembley Stadium entrance, as they slowly walked they talked and ate. By the time they got to the gate, it was 20 minutes until opening so they just stood in line and waited.

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Rebekah barges into Henrik's music studio wearing a scowl. "Henrik! Henrik!" She knocks on the glass of the booth he's in, trying to get his attention. He has his headphones on, so all he hears is the music flowing through them. Rebekah looks around at the panels and finds the intercom button. She holds it down. "Henrik!" Her voice booms through his headphones painfully; he squeezes his eyes shut as he rips his headphones off.

"What the bloody hell Bekah!" He looks at her angrily as he exits the booth.

"Oh sod it you arse! Did you truly believe I would not find out about you cocking up my interview!" Rebekah glared at him.

Henrik's eyes bulged and he gulped. His shoulders slumped and he looked at her apologetically. "Bekah, I'm sorry. I did not do it on purpose, I swear. I didn't even know he was the designer you were meeting. But I didn't like the way he spoke about you so I let it be known. I was just trying to protect you."

Rebekah sighed; as her anger dissipated, her stance deflated. "Henrik, you should have at least warned me. I walked into the interview completely blindsided, and was made a complete fool of."

Henrik grimaced. "I'm so sorry. I am an arse."

"Oh don't be daft, I was just angry. I forgive you, just remember to tell me these things before I'm affected." Rebekah nudged his shoulder as his head hung.

Right at that moment, Klaus walked in. He cocked an eyebrow as he looked at them. "What's wrong?"

Rebekah shook her head. "Nothing."

Klaus narrow his eyes at her. "Rubbish, but I won't force you to tell me. I actually came to invite you both to see Ed. He's playing at the Wembley and let me know he had some passes available, if I wanted to see him."

Rebekah perked up at the news. "Yes! I want to go! I haven't seen him ages."

Henrik smiled. "Yeah, me too. Maybe I can pick his brain for some pointers. I don't even think he knows about my studio, I'm sure he'd love to see it."

"He probably doesn't; he's been on tour so much we haven't really had much time to catch up, his father said he's just been too busy." Klaus shrugged.

"How is John? Last I heard, he was thinking of closing Sheeran Lock." Rebekah crossed her arms.

"He did, I think he's just lecturing right now." Klaus looked out in thought then shook his head and looked at his younger siblings. "Anyways, if you want to go, he have to be there at 7:30 so he can let us in. Best you hurry up and get ready."

Rebekah and Henrik smiled and hurried to their room to change. This was going to be a fun night. For once Rebekah did not take long and they were out the door by 7. When they got there, they headed for the back entrance, as per Ed's instructions. Klaus gave his name to the bouncer and they were let in. Someone informed Ed that they had arrived and he came out to greet them.

Rebekah was the first to hug him, then Henrik; Klaus never really did hugs so they patted each other's shoulders in a brotherly manner. Ed looked over at Henrik. "Oi, you have shot right up, haven't you mate. How old are you now?"

Henrik grinned. "Seventeen, just graduated from Tring Park. I'm looking to go to uni in the states in a few weeks."

"Really?! Well congrats are in order then? Which school will you be attending?" Ed asked, truly curious.

"NYU, they have an amazing music program and it doesn't hurt that Bekah lives there now too. Oh, Nik and Lijah constructed a music studio for me in our home, you have to come see it. I've been composing a lot, so I may major in that." Henrik talked to him animatedly, jumping from different topics.

Ed laughed. "Seems like you have everything planned out already, I hope it works out; and I will definitely come by, maybe we can record something in that studio." He smiled at Henrik then turned to Rebekah. "And you beautiful, you're living in New York now?"

Rebekah nodded her head. "Yes, got an offer by Wilhelmina and I took it. I've been living there for the past 2 years, I love it."

"That's good, and you mate?" Ed turned to Klaus. "My dad says he's been seeing your work taking over the art world. He's impressed at how quickly, but he did always believe in your talent."

"Thank him for me actually, I've heard he's been chatting me up a bit to other galleries. It means a lot. And I'm doing great, everything is coming along career wise. I've been getting many more offers to showcase and I'm trying to break into other avenues than just galleries. Eventually I'll be trying to take my work to the states, but I still have time I think." Klaus placed his hands in his pockets.

One of Ed's people let him know it was almost time to head on stage, so he gave them a nod and looked back at his friends. "That's brilliant, I'm glad. Ok, they're calling me to get ready for the stage. The passes I gave you can get you into the pit area or you can just stay here, it's up to you." As he walked away he halfway turned his body to say something else. "Come back here after the show, we're going to going out to eat." Then he kept walking.

Klaus looked at Rebekah and Henrik. "So where do you two want to go?"

Rebekah and Henrik turned to each other then back at Klaus and simultaneously said, "the pit." They both grinned and Klaus rolled his eyes as he started walking.

Although he didn't mind the pit, only Henrik would venture toward the front so he could become part of the mass of fans singing along. The older siblings decided to just stay near the back end where the divider for the pit started, so they wouldn't be too crowded. They listened through a few song, as they bobbed their heads. Eventually Rebekah went to the backstage area to get some water.

When she returned she couldn't find Klaus. She kept looking then decided to just wait where they had last been at. After a couple of minutes she saw Klaus coming at her with a murderous look and a huge bruise under his eye. "What the bloody hell happened Nik?" She ran up to him the rest of the way and tried to grab his face to look at the damage.

Klaus grabbed her hand and shoved it aside slightly, trying not to take out his anger on her. He was completely pissed. "Call Henrik until he answers, we're leaving."

"But what happened Nik!" She yelled at his retreating form. She shook her head and pulled out her phone to call Henrik. It only took 2 tries before he texted her asking what she wanted. She texted back saying they were leaving, something had happened with Nik, possibly a fight. Henrik said he'd meet her at the backstage entrance.

When Henrik came rushing up to her asking questions she didn't really know what to say. Klaus had informed Rebekah he was already in his car waiting, so they headed straight to the car as fast as they could. When they got inside they tried to talk to Klaus, but he was deadly silent. He dropped them off at the house then sped off to his studio before they had even gotten to the front steps. Rebekah just felt powerless, she texted Ed letting him no there was a family emergency and that they had had to leave early. She just hoped they'd find out what happened before Klaus let it eat at him.

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Matt hadn't just gotten any tickets, he'd sprung for pit tickets. Even if this wasn't a rock group, the pit was still, by far, the best "seats" per say. It was always were they had the most fun; not that they'd gone to that many shows in New York.

Although they didn't know who Foy Vance was, they did think he was very good for the opening act. They bobbed along with the unknown songs and swung their hips at the were a couple of other acts that they didn't really pay attention to, just kind of listened to them as they talked about plans for the next day. The girls wanted to sleep in a bit from the jet lag. When they noticed that they were changing the set around, they knew Ed Sheeran would finally be coming on.

When he stepped out there was a rush of people that pushed them aside to get closer. Matt kept ahold of Katherine, who kept ahold of Bonnie, from being trampled. They were both so tiny, they would have been swallowed up by the crowd. Matt was annoyed so he told his group they should move back a bit and they did, they where almost at the rail that divide the pit from the other section.

The first songs he played seemed to be older songs that they weren't familiar with. Almost everyone around them sang along. Caroline pulled out her phone and used her app to find out the name of the song, she really liked it. Her phone told her it was Little Bird and showed the lyrics. She swung her head side to side with the beat.

Tyler kept his hands on her hips as she bounced around, he wasn't truly into this kind of music. He thought it was okay, but not concert worthy. He would have never gone if Caroline hadn't wanted to go so badly. He signaled to Caroline that he was gonna back away to the rail to lean on it. Caroline nodded at him in understanding and turned back around, already dismissing him.

The girls stayed together enjoying the music as Matt stood by hovering in a protective manner. He was happy he'd gotten the tickets and that the girls were enjoying themselves; not that he wasn't. He actually really liked Ed Sheeran's music, and some of these older ones he was hearing were a completely different sound that he found he really liked, it seemed he liked to collaborate with different genres. When they heard some more familiar songs they started singing along with everyone else.

After a while she moved away from the crowd to get a bit more air. She stood by herself smiling at the music she was listening to. Soon she felt like someone was watching her, she frowned and looked to her left then looked to her right and for a second her heart stopped.

Standing not 10 feet away from her was the most striking man she had ever seen, and he was staring straight at her. It felt like everything had stopped and everyone around them had disappeared, as they stood there staring at each other.

Her breathing and heart rate picked up as he slowly approached her. Even though it was dark her eyes zeroed in on his plump cherry lips and then she looked back up at his eyes. She couldn't tell what color they were but they were light so she though they may be blue or green; though she couldn't care less. All she knew was that they were mesmerizing.

She could vaguely hear "Give Me Love" somewhere in the background. She felt like time had frozen and they were stuck in this bubble, but she didn't mind it. There was something about him that both had a calming yet blazing effect on her; making her stomach do flips.

He was only about a foot away from her now , wearing a slight smile as she drank him in. He had curly dirty blonde hair and wore a mess of necklaces that she wanted to grab ahold of for some reason. He stopped, looked at her lips then back to her eyes and smiled wider. "Hello love."

She blinked and gulped. She looked at his lips and thought about how kissable they appeared. "Hi." She croaked.

He grinned; then leaned towards her, about to ask her for her name. That's when all hell broke loose and time seemed to finally speed up. Neither Caroline nor the man, saw the fist coming straight for his face in a cheap shot. The mans face whipped to the side from the impact and he stumbled back.

Caroline's eyes widened as she looked for the culprit. It was Tyler, her boyfriend. She had somehow completely forgotten about him. "Oh my god, Tyler?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" She went to help the man up, but Tyler grabbed her roughly.

"Me?! What is wrong with you?!" Tyler looked at her furiously as she shook her arms out of his grasp. He turned to the man that had straightened himself up. "And you! Don't go fucking near my girl!" The man was looking at Tyler with so much rage.

Matt had heard the scuffle and seen Tyler grabbing Caroline, which pissed him off, but he wanted to diffuse the situation not make it worse, so he ran in between Tyler and the guy he was trying to fight with. "Please man just let it go. I'm sorry, please don't start anything bigger, just walk away." The guys jaw clenched as he breathed hard, then looked at Caroline then Matt. The rage in his eyes was still there but was going down slightly, he gave him one slight nod and walked away.

Matt's shoulders released its tension and turned toward Tyler and Caroline and heard Caroline giving Tyler a piece of her mind. So, he went to look for Katherine and Bonnie, Tyler had ruined the night and he knew they would be leaving.

Caroline was screaming at Tyler as people around them just stared. "Are you crazy?! I cannot believe you just did that. The guy was just standing there, he was going to ask me something."

Tyler was furious and Caroline was making it worse by not being on his side. "Are you that naïve or is it just desperation! He was eyeing you like a piece of candy and was about to hit on you! And you just stood there looking right back at him accepting his advance. You're mine; my girlfriend!"

"Excuse you!" She looked horrified. "I don't belong to anyone, you caveman! I'm not a piece of property you own!" She saw Katherine headed for them and her eyes welled up as she ran for her and started sobbing.

Katherine enfolded Caroline into her side protectively and glared at Tyler. "We're leaving; find your own way back. Dick!" Bonnie and Matt follow after them as they left, leaving Tyler simmering in his own anger.

Katherine called a cab not wanting to deal with any passerby. She just wanted to get Caroline to the hotel so they could have a good old guy bashing. She didn't know what had happened but she didn't care, Caroline was crying and Tyler had caused it; so in her books he was a dick.

Everyone was quiet the whole way to the hotel expected for Caroline, she just kept sobbing. When they got into the suite, Bonnie told Caroline she could sleep in their room if she wanted, that night, so she wouldn't have to see Tyler when he got in. Caroline accepted.

Unfortunately Matt was kicked out just for being a guy, but he understood. He decided to wait in the living area for Tyler's return, so he could have a word with him. He didn't care if Caroline had cheated on Tyler right in front of him; absolutely no one laid hands on his sister.

"God I hate that bastard! I really am sorry Care, but I just don't know what you see in him. He's such a pigheaded Neanderthal!" Katherine ranted.

Caroline was no longer crying just kept sniffling. "Honestly, I don't know either. Something's changed; he's acting differently and I just don't want to make excuses for him anymore." She wiped her eyes.

Bonnie pulled her mouth to the side in though. "I think it may be time to really rethink your relationship. Maybe this trip should be a test? We already kinda discussed this before graduation; it's been almost 2 months. If he's still acting crappy, then obviously your time at school wasn't the problem."

Katherine breathed in deeply. "Well, what actually happened tonight anyway? I mean, I could care less, I'll always be on your side. Just curious what gotten him so upset."

Caroline's face started turning bright red. Bonnie noticed right away since Katherine was looking down at her nails. "Oh my god, you're totally blushing! What happened?!"

Katherine quickly looked up and looked at Caroline suspiciously. "Spill!"

"It's nothing; there was a guy…" Caroline trailed off as she thought about said man.

"Geesh, must have been some guy to give you that look." Katherine smirked and wiggled her eyebrows.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Nothing happened. He smiled at me, I smiled back. Then he said hi. He leaned forward about to say something else and Tyler blindsided him with a punch. I think Matt tried to cool him down, but for sure he got him to leave." Caroline shook her head frustrated.

"Well if Tyler saw the look you just gave us while that guy was trying to talk to you, then I can totally see why he punched him." Bonnie grinned.

Caroline frowned. "Even if I was hitting on the guy, he doesn't have the right to say I belong to him or grab my arm so roughly. And I would never cheat on Tyler or any guy, no matter how much were arguing." She rubbed her bicep and Katherine's eyes honed in, then widened.

"I'm gonna kill him!" Katherine slowly reached out to take hold of her arm. It looked red and you could faintly see the outline of were his hand had grabbed her. She'd be lucky if it wasn't bruised by morning.

"Kat, I'll deal with him. He won't ever touch me like that again. Do you think we can just deal with the rest of this tomorrow. I'm just tired and want to get some rest." Caroline yawned, emphasizing her point.

Katherine and Bonnie looked at her sadly. "Yeah, we can go to sleep." Bonnie patted Caroline's hand. The girls change into their sleepwear and got into the ginormous king bed.

It wouldn't be till 3AM that Tyler finally showed up completely drunk, feeling remorseful and spouting I'm sorry's to Matt. Matt would have punched him himself if he'd actually gotten to see the damage left on Caroline. But he warned Tyler; this was his last chance, if he fucked up in any way with his sister he'd take matters into his own hands.


	9. Chapter 8

_**Alrighty, I'm finally done with this chapter. Had some time off from work for SDCC, so I spent most of it with the BF. Haven't had much time to write, but I also haven't been as motivated. Although I gotta say hearing the TVD and TO news made me happy lol that's so bad, but I just hate what they've done with the characters, I don't watch them anymore so I'm kinda glad it's ending; and I know TO is gonna be next if they don't fix things. They won't have TVD to help bring fans in anymore, stringing them along for crossovers.**_

 _ **Anyway, I've written the major plot points for the next 6 chapters so I can write them quickly. Let me know if you guys enjoyed the first meeting, if you can tell I'm not that big of a Tyler fan and I'm kinda sticking more to his earlier characterization in TVD before he became aware of the supernatural stuff.**_

 _ **I got a lot of views, more than the last chapter, so thank you for that; and a few more followers and favorites, it makes me really happy when I see people enjoy my work and that it's good enough to warrant a favorite or a follow. No reviews though, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing lol. I hope you guys can leave some feedback on how I'm doing so far. On with the chapter…**_

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Klaus pulled his studio door open roughly and slammed it shut as he stalked in towards his bathroom. He had wanted to pummel the meathead that had got him with a cheap shot. He inspected his face and saw the huge welt under and around his eye. It was pretty damn swollen already and starting to bruise.

He couldn't believe what had even happened. One minute he was almost giddy with excitement and the next he was seeing red as he'd straightened himself up. He thought about why he had been hit and it made him angrier. They were all the same; she had looked innocent, but he'd been a fool.

He went to his small fridge and looked at what was available in the freezer; he pulled out a bag of peas and then grabbed his bottle of whisky. He sat down on his futon and gingerly placed the peas on his eye and opened the bottle to take a big gulp. He didn't even want to bother with pouring it into a tumbler. As he drank, he started going through everything that had happened that night.

 _Klaus had started to become impatient. Rebekah shouldn't have been taking so long; she only needed to get 2 waters from back stage. He started worrying though, maybe she'd gotten lost in the crowd._

 _Klaus wandered around the area he'd been standing at, trying to see if he saw Rebekah. The crowd seemed to thin out a bit and he saw blonde hair. He thought it might be Rebekah so he walked a little towards her, but realized this girl had perfect golden curls. There was an open area and blonde walked towards it._

 _When she turned around and he saw her face, he stopped mid walk. She was ravishing. The light hit her perfectly casting a some shadows and all he wanted at that moment was a canvas to capture her. She looked so full of light as she stood there with a smile on her face, listening to the music._

 _He stood there staring at her for a couple of more minutes before he saw her frown and start looking around. When she caught his eyes, she seemed to freeze the way he had. Everything just disappeared around him, even his thoughts about finding Rebekah; it all became irrelevant._

 _He was maybe around 10 feet away from her; memorizing all of her features. The lighting obscured her true colors, but he still wanted to paint her perfect golden curls framing her delicate ivory face, light eyes and lovely dainty lips that he oh so wanted to taste._

 _He started walking towards her becoming aware of more of her features, drinking her in. He took note of all her lovely curves and wondered how she would feel under his touch._

 _He could hear Ed singing one of his favorite songs, "Give Me Love", as he kept moving forward. He wasn't sure what had come over him to make him react this way. He'd been with plenty of women, yet none had ever brought about this reaction. Even with Tatia, it hadn't been like this. This immediate attraction, this need to be near her, to talk to her._

 _It wasn't even physical; yes she was beautiful, but beauty was fading. This was something about her essence that was pulling him towards her, like gravity. He was only about a foot away as he looked on; his eyes focused on her lips and then back up at her hypnotizing eyes. He didn't realize he had been smiling until now but he smiled even wider, giving her one of his rare dimpled ones and finally spoke. "Hello, love."_

 _'Love?' He'd never called any woman 'Love' before. Not that he hadn't wanted to with Tatia, but it never felt correct. He saw her breathing falter as she blinked and then looked at his own lips. When she looked back up, he heard her soft melodic voice. "Hi."_

 _He grinned at her, realizing he wasn't the only one being affect by whatever connection they were sharing. He leaned in to ask for her name, so he could start to learn everything about her._

 _That's when the illusion of their connection shattered. He felt, rather than saw, the fist of someone catching him off guard and was knocked back. He didn't fall, but he still had to take a second to shake the confusion away. When he righted himself, all he could see was red and all he wanted to do was beat the living daylight out of the boy that had got a hit in._

 _He saw the guy in question grab the girl, which made Klaus even angrier for some reason. He was going to kill him for hurting her and making her upset. That's when the boy turned back around and he heard him shout at him. It took him a second to actually comprehend what he'd said. "Don't go fucking near my girl!"_

 _'His girl?' Could this imbecile truly have captured someone as magnificent as her. He looked at her; her face drawn in confusion and anger, saw her face flushed as she yelled at the boy. Could he really have just misread her signals, the connection he thought they had shared for just a second. Someone else came into view, blocking his pathway to the boy he wanted to rip to shreds. 'Please man just let it go. I'm sorry, please don't start anything bigger, just walk away.' He pleaded as he looked back at the escalating fight between the apparent couple._

 _Klaus clenched his jaw, the red blinding fury still flowing through him as he breathed in hard; huffing. He looked at the vision of beauty all riled up and then looked at the pleading man. He nodded slightly and somehow was able to walk away. His rage burning him as he kept moving away. Once he saw Rebekah, he knew he had to leave; take them home before he turned around and taught the boy a lesson or worse, took it out on his siblings._

Klaus pulled himself out of his memory and set the bottle of whisky down. He thought about the girl he'd been enraptured by; he'd never felt something that strong. But she was taken, and by someone undeserving, if his voice and hands were a reflection of their relationship. He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose, causing a slight pain in the formed bruise.

Klaus leaned back on his futon and rested his head on the wall behind him. He sat there staring into nothingness until he decided to use his emotions to fuel a new piece. He got up and set up his art supplies and grabbed a ready made canvas. Before he set to paint, he choose to lightly sketch out his vision first. It didn't work out as well as he'd hopped, since he didn't have a clear view on what he'd imagined.

He pulled out some dark colors: purple, black, deep red, brown, blue, and hesitantly he grabbed some white and yellow. His brushstrokes started out controlled and smooth but soon he'd fallen into a zone fed by the nights events, turning sharp and rough in their own right respectively. Within a few hours he's done, surprisingly; it was one of the fastest, if not the fastest piece he'd ever painted.

He sat back, analyzing his creation, it was very different than anything he'd ever made. It was still dark but there were hints of light breaking through; only a handful of people would ever truly notice. Klaus wasn't sure if he liked it and it annoyed him because he knew exactly what had caused the difference. How could a couple of minutes in the beautiful blondes mere presence have caused this change?

He felt betrayed by his own emotions, somehow she had stirred something in him that he had wanted to keep buried forever. And she wasn't even available to be on the receiving end of it, she was already taken. He was so infuriated with himself for falling for her innocent act; remembering the way she had looked at him, they way she'd reacted to him.

Klaus clenched his jaw, got up from his stool and drank some more whiskey. He laid down on his futon and kept drinking until he fell asleep. Dreaming of nothing but darkness and a light he kept chasing.

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Caroline wakes feeling restless, as if those 8 hrs of sleep were only 8 minutes. The first thought in her head after realizing she was in Katherine and Bonnie's room, was the beautiful mans smiling face. She smiled slightly, then remembered Tyler and she frowned.

She shook her head at each thought. Tyler may have been an ass and pissed her off, but he was still her boyfriend. She should not be thinking about some random stranger. She couldn't understand why the stranger made her heart flutter so fiercely. Tyler had never made her feel that way in the 3 years they'd been together. In fact, the feelings she once held for him in the beginning were actually starting to fade, if she was honest with herself.

She felt Katherine stir awake and her eyes slowly opened. Katherine stretched as she yawned, then looked over at Caroline. "Creeper, how long have you been awake?"

Caroline shrugged. "Just a couple of minutes."

"You thinking about Tyler? Or the other guy?" Katherine wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

Caroline smacked her arm lightly as she rolled her eyes. "I'm kind of worried about seeing Tyler. We have to have a serious discussion, and I'm not really sure I want to."

Katherine huffed as she rolled on her side. "You should just break up with that jerk Care. He doesn't value you, so he doesn't deserve you."

Caroline bit her lip in thought, she was starting to realize just that. But Tyler was her first love, how could she just give up on him without trying. They had a problem, but they hadn't even truly addressed it, so how could they fix it.

Bonnie groaned as she pulled the covers over her head. "Would you two shut up? We said we'd sleep in a bit, remember?"

Katherine smirked and pulled on the blankets, jumping out of bed and running to the curtains with them. She opened the curtains, letting the bright day in, laughing as Bonnie grabbed a pillow and threw it at her head as she ducked. "Missed!"

Bonnie growled and opened her eyes fully glaring at Katherine. "You're such a pain in the ass sometimes Kat!" She huffed and lifted herself up as she ignored the girls laughter. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and moved her legs to hang over the edge of the bed. "What time is it anyway?"

"It's actually already noon, so technically we did sleep in. I think we should shower and go for some lunch, go walk around a bit." Caroline planned as she sat on the bed. She looked at the girls and they nodded, so she got up and out of the bed about to head out of the room when Kat stopped her.

"Prepare yourself, cause Tyler will be on the other side. Whether to ask for forgiveness or answers." Katherine warned her.

Caroline frowned but turned the door handle to walk out. No one was actually out there. She sighed then headed for her and Tyler's room. She stood outside for a good minute before taking a deep breath and opening the door.

Tyler was on the bed, shutting his laptop quickly. He looked at her questioningly. "Hi."

Caroline narrowed her eyes, lifted her chin and walked to the closet to grab a change of clothes; unwilling to talk to him yet.

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Care, I'm sorry. I overreacted, but would you please stop being melodramatic."

Caroline turned around sharply, her eyes bulging out. "Melodramatic! Seriously! You punched a guy Tyler! You called me naïve and desperate! And if that wasn't bad enough…" Caroline lifted the short sleeve of her shirt and showed him the bruise.

Tyler's eyes widened as his face paled. "Oh my god, Care…" He stood from the bed and walked over to her, about to grab her arm and inspect the damage he'd done. Caroline pulled her arm back before he got the chance and he winced. "I can't believe I did that, I'm sorry."

Caroline sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Look, I know it was an accident. But Ty, you hit someone for no reason, that wasn't an accident. Even if the guy came on to me, I would think you would trust me enough to know that I would never cheat on you. I'm not that kind of girl."

"I know you're not!" Tyler huffed then looked at her. "I just, I saw that guy look at you and the way you looked at him…it made me insanely jealous. So I just blew up." Tyler shook his head and looked down as he clenched his hands.

Caroline rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "That may be, but you still had no right to act the way you did, or basically call me your property."

Tyler threw his hands in the air. "I know! Geez Care, I'm not an idiot. I just said that in the heat of the moment, but I do regret it. I'm sorry." Looked at her with pleading eyes, silently asking for forgiveness.

Caroline slowly let go of her anger as she shook her head slightly. "Okay. Look Kat and Bon wanna go grab some lunch…, I think we're just gonna go do some shopping today. I'm gonna shower and get ready if you don't mind."

Tyler nodded his head slightly in understanding. He was already dressed for the day, so he headed out of the room giving Caroline a bit of privacy.

Caroline shook her head frustrated and took her clothes with her into the bathroom to shower. She took that time to think about what Tyler had said, what Katherine and Bonnie had said; that she had a look on her face that may have given the stranger a signal she wasn't aware of.

She starts thinking of the guy and she smiles again. He'd truly been beautiful, and there was something about him that gave her butterflies. The way he'd stared at her, like he could see into her very soul had left her enchanted in the moment, frozen in her spot.

She felt the warm water getting colder and looked at her watch, she'd been there a lot longer than she'd thought, lost in her own head. She finished her shower then got out and changed.

Caroline didn't feel like drying her hair so she towel dried it a bit, then put some sea salt product in, and let the air do the rest.

When she came out into the living room, the girls were already there sitting, waiting for her awkwardly. Kat was glaring at Tyler who had decided to stay and say goodbye for the day, while he ignored Katherine. Bonnie was trying to avoid making a bigger scene by texting on her phone and Matt was sulking as he kept checking his phone for the time. He didn't truly feel like spending his day with Tyler when he felt like punching him, he was only keeping his anger in check for Caroline's sake.

Caroline arched an eyebrow. "Alright. Well, me and the girls are going out for a bit. Sorry Matt, I really just want some girl time, maybe when we get back we can all go do something." She grabbed her purse and threw it over her shoulder.

Bonnie smiled and got up from the couch, picking up her own purse as she walked towards Caroline. "Yeah, maybe we can check out some of the famous tourist spots?"

"Exactly!" Caroline grinned and flipped her hair as she started walking out of the hotel suite.

Katherine huffed as she grabbed her bag, she looked at Matt and he shrugged. "Play nice Kat, it's only our second day here. Use this time to cool off."

"Yeah, yeah. No promises. I don't care if he is your friend or Care's boyfriend. I will never like him and I don't think he deserves her." She told him quietly as she eyed Tyler. He'd gotten up to grab his laptop and place it in his bag.

"I'm gonna go to a coffee shop or something. Let me know when you're back babe." He kissed Caroline's cheek lightly and walked passed all of them as she frowned slightly.

Matt scowled at his retreating form. "I'm starting to agree with you more and more, honestly. I don't like how Tyler's been acting or treating Care. But unfortunately it's still Care's decision."

Katherine smirked mischievously. "Doesn't mean we can't nudge things along," she stated ominously as they walked to the elevators.

Matt smirked at her and hopped into the elevator with them. "I guess I'll just find a pub to waste some time, I wonder if they put on any American games. Guess I'll find out."

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Klaus stepped out of his shower and dried himself off. He looked at himself in the mirror and just starred. He grabbed some hair product and ran it through his hair with his hands.

He comes out of his restroom with his towel wrapped around his hips and picks up his phone to check the time. He frowns as he ignores all of Rebekah's calls and texts. Wonders if he should just get it over with and let her know what happened, before she becomes an even bigger nuisance.

He just wanted some peace and quiet while he replayed all the events from the night before in his head, he was still annoyed and feeling just a bit rejected. The connection he'd shared with that girl had been very intense, but he hated that it was affecting him so much in such a short amount of time.

She was no different than Tatia really; she had a boyfriend, yet she'd looked at him with so much yearning. Even if the boy didn't deserve her, he could not stand being the object that she used to betray someone else, the way Tatia had tried to use Elijah.

Klaus looks over at the canvas he'd created because of her then shakes his head to try and rid himself of thoughts of the beautiful blonde that had invaded his mind. She'd had an American accent which meant she was most likely on vacation. With any luck they would never cross paths again.

He heard his phone buzz again and he rolled his eyes, changing into his clothes, before he picked it up. This time it was Elijah. Apparently Rebekah had finally spilled to their older brother and now he was seeking Klaus for an explanation.

Klaus types a message to Rebekah to back off, he'd tell them soon, he just wanted some time alone to process. Rebekah replies with an apology for telling Elijah, letting him know they'll wait for him. Klaus breaths in deeply.

This was the part he hated about not being their true full brother, it always made him question if maybe he got this loneliness from his biological father. He would never truly know, that was one of the few things he wished he'd asked his mother, but that door was shut when he cut her out his life.

He wished he could just talk to them instead of shutting down and not letting them comfort him. But he did believe he was getting better; he used to deny that he even had a problem, at least now he was at the the point were he could acknowledge it to his siblings, ask for some time to collect his emotions.

He'd go home in a bit, he really was done felling sorry for himself. Yes, he was an artist, but even he knew when he was going too far. He couldn't let the blonde take over his life when he didn't even know her name.

Klaus grabbed his keys and picked out a pair of sunglasses to hide his bruised eye. It was all sorts of purple and green, but luckily most of the swelling had actually gone down. He headed out of his studio to his home, to get the inquisition over with. This was going to be a pain in the ass. At least Henrik would leave him be.

It didn't take long to get there and as soon as he walked through the door, he heard heels headed for him. The tell tale sign that Rebekah would be the first in the inquisition. Klaus took a deep breath, preparing for her arrival. Rebekah walked down the stairs in a hurried pace and stopped right front of him.

"Bekah…how are you this morning?" Klaus asked sarcastically as he looked down at his baby sister.

Rebekah scoffed and grabbed his face. Taking his sunglasses off to inspect the damage. "Bloody hell Nik. Please tell me what happened? I was gone for a few minutes and the next time I saw you, you wanted us to leave, flying out of there like a bat out of hell. Who did this? Why?"

Klaus rolled his eyes and sighed. "I was looking for you and was distracted by someone else. Unfortunately she was taken, unbeknownst to me that is. The wanker got me, as I was too focused on his dear girlfriend. I had to leave fast, before I destroyed that smarmy little git."

Rebekah stood there dumbfounded for a second then started laughing hysterically. "Are you joking? Oh my god you're serious! I can't believe you got into a scrap because you tried to chat up some other blokes bird and then proceeded to mope about it. Who are you and what have you done to my brother?" Rebekah covered her mouth as she kept laughing. She found it so hilarious it was making her cry a bit.

Klaus clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes at her angrily. "I was not mopping. I was angry at the little wanker and I was trying not to take it out on you or Henrik." Klaus spoke lowly at her.

Rebekah stopped laughing and straightened out to compose herself before she looked back up at Klaus. He wasn't at all happy with her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. You've just never cared about some unknown girl; always been quite careful about chatting up unattached birds."

"Yes, well, there's a first time for everything. Don't worry it won't happen again." Klaus smirked faintly.

Rebekah shrugged, then they both turned to see Elijah step out of his office and look at Klaus. "If I can have a word with you?" Elijah buttoned up his suit and walked back into his office leaving the door open.

Klaus grunted. "Looks like I have to answer to the Noble Elijah now." He moved around Rebekah as he heard her snicker then went into Elijah's office and closed the door behind him.

Elijah sat at his desk, looking over some files. "Are you hurt badly?" Elijah stopped to look up.

"I've had worse, by Mikael no less." He clasped his hand behind his back as he stood there looking at Elijah.

Elijah scrunched his face at the ugly memories Klaus was trying to bring up. "At least the damage does not seem to be too severe. You're already healing quite nicely. Which is good because I have a potential client who would like to buy one of your works. Maybe Rebekah can hide the rest tomorrow with some makeup."

Klaus quirks his eyebrow and walks over to Elijah's mini liquor supply to pour himself a drink. He picks up the glass with whisky and sits in one of the chairs facing his brother. "Is that really all you are going to ask me? You don't want to interrogate me on what happened?"

Elijah sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You are no longer a child Niklaus, I will not spend my time trying to reprimand you. Nor do I truly care for the details, as long as you are alright." He leaned back into his chair and placed his elbows on the side arms as his fingertips touched each other. "It did not involve any legal action, which means I do not have make any statements on your behalf. As long as you can continue with your work I won't pester you. If there was any kind of serious problem, I believe you would tell me.

Klaus smirked as he sipped his whisky. "My, you have grown to trust me." He looked at Elijah and became serious. "Thank you. As your client and brother, it means a lot that you trust me. Now as for the potential sale, send me the details and I will be there tomorrow."

"Very well. You should go see Henrik, he's been very worried about you, though he's tried to hide it." Elijah sat up and started reading through his paperwork again, dismissing Klaus silently.

Klaus chuckled but got up to leave. He closed the door behind him and went searching for Henrik, finding him in his music studio. He sat down and grab the headphones on the production sound board to hear what Henrik was creating in the recording room.

A beautiful melody could be heard through the headphones. Klaus was always impressed with how good Henrik was - always seemed to be ahead of his time. Klaus was glad Henrik wanted to continue expanding on his knowledge of music. He tapped on the glass, alerting Henrik to his presence.

Henrik looked up and smiled, putting his guitar down he rushed out of the recording room. "Nik, you're home! Whoa, that's a nasty bruise. Are you okay?"

"Not to worry, I'm fine. Was in a bit of a scrap with a bloke, but I'll live. And you, are you starting to get things ready. Rebekah will be leaving in a few days and you'll be leaving not too soon after. Best make sure you have everything you'll need for school. I think Rebekah wants to take you shopping for supplies, maybe tomorrow." Klaus ran his hand through his hair. Then patted Henrik on the back.

"Okay, tomorrow it is. I'm starving, let's go get some lunch." Henrik pushed Klaus jokingly as they headed to the kitchen, glad that Klaus was no longer angry.

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Katherine was the first to step out the Burberry Brit shop in the Covent Garden. She had already been carrying a large amount of bags in her hands but she didn't mind if she added a few more. "Have I mentioned how much I love this shopping center. Brands I love, and a few I've never even heard of that I will totally be keeping an eye on." She turned to look back at Caroline and Bonnie who were each carrying their own insane amount of bags.

Bonnie nodded her head in agreement. "I think my first big post for my website is gonna be on London fashion, they're much more open to eclectic styles."

"Yeah, and they don't have the same generic stores in each shopping center." Caroline smiled at her her best friends. "I don't know how we're gonna fit all this in our bags to take back home but I'm totally glad you guys took me for some retail therapy."

Bonnie and Katherine started laughing then Katherine shrugged. "Well I may have slightly manipulated you so I could go shopping." She smirked at Caroline.

"No, really?!" Caroline sarcastically looked at her. "I've known you since we were in diapers; I can see through all your BS Kat."

Katherine grinned at her. "I love you too! And, as much as I love to shop 'til I drop, I think my drop point is just around the corner."

"Yeah, me too. I don't know how much more I can add onto my arms." Bonnie laughed as she tried to readjust the bags she was holding.

"Ok, I say we hit a few more stores. The must haves only, then we head back to the hotel to drop off the bags and grab the boys for some sightseeing." Caroline planned out loud.

"Kay'. Let's look at a directory, see what we have to work with." Katherine led them to the closest directory. They mentally crossed off all the stores they'd gone to and choose the last 3 they'd check out.

"Alright, so Mulberry, Oasis, and Karen Millen." Bonnie stated as they started walking. "I am really hoping Mulberry has some jackets available, I loved the stuff I saw at Fashion Week. But first, Karen Millen, I know how much you both want some dresses."

When they got to Karen Millen, they went immediately towards the long flowing dresses. They chose a few styles each and went to try them on. Both Caroline and Katherine found some cute dresses while Bonnie chose a couple of skirts and cute tops. After they'd payed, they headed to Oasis, spending the most time and money at that particular store. They got a mix of different styles and even some accessories and called it a success.

Once they got to Mulberry, they knew how much they had left to spend. Bonnie bought a cropped leather jacket while Katherine bought a black wool jacket and Caroline decided to splurge on a bag instead of more clothes.

"Finally! We're done, for now at least." Katherine smirked and the girls laughed, they'd never truly get tired of shopping. "Let's call a cab or something to get us to the hotel. This many bags and these heels definitely do not mix."

Bonnie pulled out her phone and looked up a cab company and called for a ride. "They said it'd be a few minutes." She set her bags down and the other two followed suit so they could wait. Bonnie turned to Caroline. "Why don't you call or text Matt and Tyler so they're ready to go when we get there."

Caroline nodded her head and grabbed her phone; texting Matt and Tyler. Matt replied quickly, letting them know to go ahead without him. He'd made some friends with some of the locals at a pub and they were watching a on the other hand, hadn't responded at all.

Soon enough the cab had come and they'd loaded all the bags into it. By the time they got to the hotel and unloaded the bags, 20 minutes of had gone by, and Caroline had become annoyed. She texted Tyler again and the girls sat there waiting. When he still didn't respond, she called him and started getting even more angry after each ring. It went to voicemail and she hung up, only to call 4 more times, each with the same result. She was completely annoyed as she gave up and texted him one final time. Letting him know they were leaving and when she got back she'd be sleeping with Katherine and Bonnie again.

Caroline grabbed her Nikon camera, and the girls headed out to do some touristy sightseeing for the rest of the evening, not letting Tyler ruin their mood. They all had a field day taking pictures of some of the more famous monuments and asked a lot of strangers to take pictures of all of them together. By the time they were on their way back to the hotel, Caroline had almost filled her 16GB card.

As the girls entered the hotel, Katherine received a text from one of the PA assistants that was handling some of her work while she was away. Apparently she'd lost one of the files Katherine had set up for a clients advert. Katherine huffs in annoyance, "I do not want to deal with work while I'm on vacation! Is that really so much to ask?" Katherine looked at Bonnie and Caroline and they shrugged and giggled. "Ugh! I'm going to have to take care of this. I'll be up in a bit."

Katherine signaled if they could take her bags and handed them over before she looked at her phone and called Kristen. "I'm going to make your workload insane when I get back!" Katherine shouted over the phone as she walked away from the elevator. Bonnie and Caroline almost felt bad for the girl, Katherine was gonna make her life hell.

"I don't think I have an extra copy at my desk. It's all on my computer and in my cloud. What I'm gonna do is use the facilities here to try and send them to you. They're large files, it may take a bit of time, so you can forget about any plans you had!" Katherine went to the front desk and asked if they where their business center was at. Once Katherine was in front of a computer she began explaining what she would have to do. After an hour of talking the girl through all the steps and threatening her with bodily harm if she messed up again she hung. She'd warned her that if she did, she could forget about calling her for help, she wouldn't answer.

Katherine placed her phone in her bag and as she rounded the corner she almost ran into the back of Tyler. Katherine stopped mid walk and rushed back around the corner. He was on the phone and never even noticed Katherine. She didn't know why, but there was something in his voice that made her want to listen.

He was smiling and smirking, making Katherine want to gag, then she thought she heard him say "baby". Katherine narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she kept trying to tune out all the noises around her so she could focus on Tyler. She'd never trusted him, add the fact that he had been treating Caroline disrespectfully the past couple of months - you could say Katherine was suspicious of why that could be. She could only hear snippets here and there, but he was being very attentive to the person on the other side of the conversation.

Tyler walked a bit closer and she plastered herself as close as she could to the wall. "Look, I'll…..in town…..end…..week." Katherine closed her eyes as she focused on his voice. "I…..too baby, but…..can't…..from…..yet,…..mom…..freak. I…..more time…..with her. I…..go,…..talk…..soon." He hung up and Katherine prayed he wouldn't walk her way; he didn't. Tyler walked to a table in the opposite direction to pick up his laptop which gave Katherine the perfect opportunity to slink away.

She wasn't exactly sure what Tyler had been saying, but from the little she could stitch together it didn't bode well for Caroline. She did not want to go to her and then have it blow up in her face because she was wrong, so she resolved she'd tell Matt. He would be able to find out more, since him and Tyler used to run in the same crowd. For now she would keep a close eye on him when he was around them, and take note of everything.

Katherine made sure to enter the suite right after Tyler, which gave her the chance to hear Tyler lying through his teeth. He told Caroline that he'd accidentally put his phone on vibrate and had had it in his laptop bag the whole time, it wasn't until a few minutes ago that he'd finally checked on it and noticed her texts and calls and had rushed to the suite.

Katherine wanted to strangle him and call him out, but she was willing to wait for more incriminating evidence so Caroline would dump his ass, hopefully it wouldn't be too much longer. Unfortunately since Caroline was the forgiving type, she believed him and decided to stay in her room with him that night. Although Katherine wasn't planning on screwing up their vacation, she was hopeful that by the end of it, they would all be rid of Tyler.


	10. Chapter 9

**Semi-long A/N ahead:**

 **Cool, I got this done quicker than I thought I would lol like I said last chapter, I haven't had much time to write, but I also haven't been as motivated. I just don't know if I'm doing that great of a job :/**

 **I am so grateful to those that have started following me since the last chapter and all those who have been following me since the beginning. The fact that I have any followers and favorites is what keeps me writing this fic, or at least posting it.**

 **I write most of this, just going with the flow but I try to be consistent with the story. I hope I'm doing some justice to the characters and not screwing them up too much. I think it's a lot harder for me to create my own world and situations, rather than going off of TVD and using what they'd done and expanding or changing things in that world. But I'll keep going until I feel this story has found an end.**

 **Thank you to that guest reviewer! That one review honestly made my day. I like hearing what you guys think.**

 **So, here's my next chapter. Go ahead and drop me some review if you can. Thanks!**

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Although Elijah would not be going to work that day, he still woke early as usual. He'd planned the beginning of the day to set up Henrik's expected expenses when he got to New York. Henrik would be meeting Rebekah and staying with her when he wasn't in the dorms. Niklaus wanted to go with him and find an apartment of sorts, so they could have a place to stay when they went to visit. Elijah, however, wanted to wait until Henrik was done with at least his first year, he also wished for Niklaus to focus on his own projects right now.

Elijah got out of his bed and walked to his ensuite to shower. When he got out, he walked to his sink to go through his morning ritual, after he was done he went into his walk in closet to change into one of his many suits. He hardly had anything besides suits, it had become a part of his persona.

He grabbed his phone and looked at his to do list, he'd need to wake Henrik and Klaus; they were due to be at the bank by 11AM, and if he wished to be there on time, then they needed to be ready sooner rather then later.

As he left his room, he headed for Klaus' art room first. Sometimes he found him awake before anyone in the house, painting away. He heard the soft soothing sound of an orchestra and knew that Klaus would be painting. He opened the door quietly to watch him.

The painting was very light in tone, serene and peaceful, a complete opposite of what Klaus normally did. He stood there enchanted by Klaus' talent but also questioned where these subtle and not so subtle changes were coming from. Even his technique was different from the norm.

Elijah pretended to make some entering noises to get Klaus' attention. Klaus quickly set his brush down and covered his painting. Elijah raised an eyebrow in wonder, he wasn't going to let Klaus go without asking a few questions at the very least. "That's coming out beautifully, it's very bright as opposed to your usual work. Can I ask what inspired it?"

Klaus tensed. "You may ask but I won't answer."

"Another for your private collection then." Elijah asked nonchalantly.

Klaus huffed and turned to look at Elijah with narrowed eyes. "If I choose it to be, then so be it."

Elijah shook his head and sighed. "I meant no trouble Niklaus, it was just odd seeing you paint something so…light. I wondered what had caused you to creat it.

Klaus clasped his hands behind his back and narrowed his eyes. "Nothing, I was just experimenting. Why did you come in, did you need something?"

Elijah breathed in and smoothed out his suit, he did not want to make Klaus upset. "Yes, we'll be going to the bank with Henrik to set up his account. If you could be ready in an hour, it would be much appreciated." Elijah turned and walked away, leaving Klaus be.

He went up the stairs to the second floor towards Henrik's room. He nocked lightly and waited a few seconds, when he didn't get a response he let himself in.

He found Henrik sprawled almost diagonally on his bed and chuckled. Elijah grabbed Henrik's foot and shook it slightly. "Henrik, wake up."

Henrik grumbled and opened his eyes a bit. He saw Elijah and huffed, grabbing his blanket and pulling it over his head.

"Henrik, you need to wake up. We're going to the bank to set up your account for New York." Elijah stood over Henrik waiting patiently.

Although Elijah was quite, his mere presence gave off an air. "Ugh! Fine 'Lijah, I'm up." Henrik threw the covers off himself, making a big deal about being woken up so early.

"You really should get used to waking early, you're going to have to do it daily once you start uni. I took a look at your schedule, you have a couple of morning classes." Elijah tried to converse with him.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll deal with it then." Henrik grabbed some clothes and walked to his restroom.

Elijah shook his head. "Niklaus and I will be waiting downstairs for you." He turned and walked back out, down to his office.

He grabbed some files from his safe and put it in his business portfolio then headed to the kitchen to have a cup of coffee. When he entered the kitchen, Klaus was already dressed for the day and making some. "Niklaus."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Is Henrik ready."

Elijah walked to the coffee pot and poured some for himself. "He's showering. He'll be down in a bit. We'll be setting up a joint account, so we can both have access to his expenses. I also wanted to grant him some of his trust fund money as well, as an early gift of sorts. He has shown an immense sense of responsibility."

Klaus nodded. "I agree. He has become very responsible, especially when it comes to how he spends his money. He should be rewarded for how he's made us all so proud."

"We can either grant him access to a percentage of his trust, just a certain monetary amount or take out the money and put it into his new account." Elijah informed him.

"If we are going to trust him with his own account and reward him for taking responsibility, then we might as well give him access to a percentage. We'll still have access to what he'll be spending, in case he starts to go overboard." Klaus finished off his coffee and placed the mug in the sink.

Elijah handed his empty mug to Klaus and he put it in the sink as well. "Remember that you have an appointment with a buyer. I sent you the address already. It's not until later today, so we do not have to rush at the bank." Elijah looked over at Klaus and then turned around when he heard Henrik coming down.

"Okay 'Lijah, I may take Henrik with me so he can have a look at the gallery's current exhibitions. I think that's going to be what I'll miss most, showing Henrik different forms of art." Klaus looked off in thought until he heard Henrik coming into the room.

Henrik strolled in completely unconcerned and went to the fridge. He looked at what was available and choose to get a bottle of mineral water. He opened it and took a swig as he kept the fridge open.

Elijah raised an eyebrow slightly annoyed. "Henrik, close the door."

Henrik looked at him sheepishly as he closed it. "Sorry. So, are we headed out?"

Klaus shook his head and chuckled. He walked over to Henrik and grabbed him by the neck playfully. "Yes, let's go baby brother." He pushed Henrik around as he laughed.

Elijah sighed. "Children." He grabbed the portfolio with all the necessary files and followed behind Klaus and Henrik. "Please show some decorum when we get to the bank, I do a lot of business with them and do not want to be embarrassed."

Henrik got out of Klaus's hold and ran in front of Elijah. "Yes, sir." He fake saluted him and Klaus grinned.

"Oh how I'm going to miss you!" Klaus clasped his hands behind his back and waited for Elijah to chastise him.

Instead Elijah ignored both of them and unlocked his car. "Get in, we don't have all day."

Klaus turned to Henrik still grinning and signaled to the car with a nod of his head. Henrik stopped saluting, laughed and jumped in the back seat, then Klaus climbed into the passenger.

Setting up the account didn't take long since Elijah had already filled out all the needed paperwork. The only thing Klaus and Henrik had to do was to sign said paperwork. They also had to explain to Henrik what each account entailed and notify him that although it was technically his account, they still could see all the charges and add or withhold any money if they saw fit. By the time they were done, Klaus only had a couple of hours before his meeting. He told Elijah they should head home and that he and Henrik would leave as soon as they got there.

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Katherine had been awake since 6AM, she wanted to speak to Matt before Tyler woke. She had wanted to talk to him the night before but he'd stayed out late at the pub with the people he'd met.

Everything she had heard Tyler say, was playing on loop in her head; and things were becoming clearer to her as the minutes and hours passed by. His actions were making much more sense, if she was correct in her assumption that the bastard was cheating on her best friend.

Katherine twitched with anger, she wanted so much to expose the lying dirtbag. She honestly thanked the heavens for the stranger that made Caroline's head turn. If that had never happened, then Caroline would still be in denial over how badly her relationship was going.

She heard a door open and close and hoped it was Matt; it was. Katherine smiled apprehensively and he immediately sensed something was wrong. "You're up early…what's wrong?"

Katherine sighs. "We have to talk…about Tyler."

Matt frowns and joins Katherine on the couch. "What about him? What's he done now?"

Katherine took a deep breath as she fiddled with her fingers. She never thought it would be that hard to actually say what she was thinking when it came to Tyler. "Yesterday, I was down at the business services center. When I was coming back up to the suite I almost bumped into Tyler. I hid before he saw me though; he was talking on the phone with someone and I heard him say baby. At first I thought I misheard or thought maybe he was talking to Caroline. Whoever he was talking to, he let them know he'd be back home soon and that there was something he couldn't do just yet because his mother would get upset. Then he said he needed more time with "her", I think he may have been talking about Caroline. After that he said he'd talk to them soon. He came to suite, lying to Caroline of course, and told her he hadn't heard any of the calls or texts she'd sent because he didn't have his phone on him." Katherine looked up at Matt and steeled herself for what she was about to accuse Tyler of. "I have this sinking suspicion that he's been cheating on her, which would give his reaction to the guy at the concert a lot more sense."

Matt stared a bit dumbfounded, if Tyler was cheating on Caroline, he would make him regret it for the rest of his life. "I honestly don't know what to say. I think this is something I'm gonna have to look into, we can't just accuse him without evidence. Caroline may feel that something is off but if we attack their relationship without proof, she may just deny it and start defending Tyler. This would explain a lot of his behavior, and I have an idea on who it may be.

"I know that he was a really good friend once, but I've always thought he was fake. You don't hang out with him as much, but I know you know a lot of the same people. Hopefully you can ask around and find out." Katherine looked at him and shrugged.

Matt nodded and looked away in thought. "I should have followed my instinct and told Caroline not to date him."

Katherine shook her head and pursed her lips. "It wouldn't have mattered, she's too stubborn. She only believes what she wants to, we can't force her to see him the way we do." She looked down the hallway towards the rooms then turned back to Matt. "You can't tell Bonnie, she'll flip her lid and go after Tyler if she knows there's even a slight chance of cheating involved, you know how she hits about that. Plus, she can't keep a secret for the life of her." Katherine smirked.

Matt laughed and patted Katherine's knee. "Don't worry, I won't tell her. I'll start asking people back home. Maybe since he's not there to warn them not to say anything, they'll slip up."

Both Matt and Katherine heard a door open so they rushed to kitchen to not look as suspicious. Caroline walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Morning." She grabbed a glass for some water and gulped it down. "You guys are up early."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. The slight amount of work I had to deal with threw me off. Matt just walked in here a few minutes ago. So, what're the plans for today!" Katherine sat down at the table to sip at the coffee she'd made.

Caroline looked at them excited. "Well I was hoping everyone would be awake early so we could go down to Little Venice, there's this cute breakfast place called Molly's that has pretty good reviews, then we can walk down to the canal, maybe take a tour. We can do some more sightseeing after that."

Matt smiled at her. "That sounds fun, and I'm starving, so I can definitely go for some breakfast."

Katherine agreed. "Let me go wake up the sleeping monster, I know she's gonna need some time to adjust and wake up." They laughed as she got up to go get Bonnie.

Caroline looked at Matt. "I'm gonna wake Tyler and get ready, you should go change."

Matt gave her a tight smile and nodded his head. He went to his room and took his phone off its charger. He looked up a number and accounted for the time before he called. He dialed Jesse's number, knowing he'd still be awake.

"Yo Donavan! What's up man?" Most of the guys he'd met through business school and Tyler had taken to calling him by his middle name.

"Hey man, I'm actually in London for vacation with my sister. I know it's late over there, but I was hoping you could do me a huge favor." Matt waited for his response.

"Yeah, man, no problem. What do you need?" Jesse asked.

Matt took a deep breath. "I need you to ask around and see if Tyler has been messing around with someone behind Caroline's back." He didn't care that he was being so up front about it. Jesse had met Caroline before Tyler and her had become a couple. He'd liked her, but had backed off once Tyler had made a move. Matt knew that if there was anyone who would hate that someone was playing Caroline, it would be him.

"Wait, what?! Are you telling me that douchebag is cheating on her?" Jesse question his friend in shock.

"I think so; and I think I know who it may be, so you may not have to search that much." Matt clenched his jaw. "I don't know if you remember that girl that came by to one of our basketball games. She had these freaky green eyes and seemed to have a permanent annoying pout on her, brown hair, olive skin. You know who I'm talking about."

"Yeah, her names Hayley; and just so you know, I've seen her around him on more than one occasion. You want me to ask around, see if he's been hanging out with her?" Jesse sounded completely annoyed that Tyler would do this.

"I know, he's made some excuse of why he's been with her, says its for work. I just need you to find out if it's more than that. She supposedly works with him at his mom's foundation, so it shouldn't be too hard to track her down." Matt sat on his bed and looked at his clenched fist in thought.

"Alright, I'll do some digging and let you know what I find. When do you guys get back?"

"End of the week. Thanks Jesse, this means a lot to me." Matt unclenched his fist and stood, walking to the closet to grab some clothes for the day.

"Of course man, you and Caroline are my friends. And she definitely does not deserve this, if it's really happening."

Matt nodded. "Alright I gotta go, I'll talk to you soon."

"Later." Jesse hung up and Matt went to the restroom for a quick shower and to get changed. He was out and ready to go before anyone else. He heard Bonnie shouting at Katherine as she ran out of the room cackling.

"I don't even want to know what you did to her." Matt shook his head as he chuckled.

Katherine smiled mischievously and sauntered over to him. "Caroline still isn't ready?"

"Yes, we are!" Caroline and Tyler exited their room together holding hands. Tyler almost never showed affection unless he was trying to show off Caroline like a prize. Most of the time, Caroline was okay with that, but she was trying to make an effort to solidify their relationship since they'd been having so many problems.

Katherine rolled her eyes at the display and made a gagging face at Matt. "Bonnie should be out soon. Are we gonna be taking a cab or using the underground?" Katherine asked Caroline and ignored Tyler's presence.

Caroline frowned at her, but answered. "Actually we can either take the bus or walk. It's really not that far."

Bonnie stepped out and joined the group. "I say we take the bus since you want to walk around after, that way we won't get too tired." She looked at her phone, smiled and then slipped it into her back pocket.

"Did you say good bye to lover boy." Katherine smirked and Bonnie glared at her. "Ow." Katherine pulled her hand away and hid behind Matt.

Bonnie smiled at her. "That is what you get for interrupting my call."

Caroline hooked her arm though Tyler's and pulled him with her as she started walking out of the suite. "All right, let's go before it gets too late."

They all followed Caroline out of the suite and talked about where they would go after breakfast and walking the canal.

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"So are you excited to start at NYU?" Klaus looked over Henrik in the passenger seat.

Henrik smiled and nodded. "It's going to to be amazing, I just know it. I think I would be a bit more scared though if Stefan wasn't going too. Having someone there, that I know is going through the same thing, is really going to help me. Plus, 'Bekah will be there in case I feel overwhelmed." He looked out the window.

"And me and Elijah are always a phone call away, no matter the time. We will both drop whatever we are doing to help, if need be. The same as we have done for Rebekah." Klaus wanted to make sure Henrik understood that just because they weren't going to be right next to each other, didn't mean they couldn't be there for him.

"I know Nik. Anyway, you're eye looks better. Rebekah can really work some magic with that makeup." He grinned at Klaus' scowl.

"Don't remind me. I can't believe Elijah really had her do this. If this art collector really wants one of my creations, then it shouldn't matter how I look. Who cares if I look bloody presentable?" Klaus tightened his hold on the steering wheel as he clenched his jaw and Henrik cackled.

He'd brought Henrik along so that he could see the gallery of the collector who had contacted Elijah. Ever since Henrik had become old enough to join them on Klaus' exhibits, he'd become somewhat of an art enthusiast. Music had always been his first love, but he was the one who had appreciated and understood art the most out of all his siblings.

"When we finish this and get back to the house, we'll pick up Rebekah and head to some shops, buy you some things. Since she's leaving tomorrow, she wants to make sure you have some essential gear for New York and school." Klaus informed him.

Henrik nodded his head. "Okay, that sounds good. I just hope we don't end up with a trunk full of new things. It would probably be best to just buy things in New York, so I don't have to carry too much with me."

"I'll try to rein her in, but you know how she becomes when there's shopping involved." Klaus shook his head as he smirked.

Henrik smiled and laughed. "Remember when she moved? She took 3 suitcases full of new things, didn't she?!"

Klaus chuckled. "Yes, and that was just pure clothing. We had to ship the rest of the items after."

They laughed for a while, talking about how overboard Rebekah could go, when it came to shopping. Henrik and Klaus had always been the least frivolous at spending their money. Although Elijah was always conscious of what he spent money on, he still bought whatever he wanted.

Klaus slowed down as they both looked for Imitate Modern. "It's going to be on the left of us, keep an eye out for parking."

"There it is." Henrik pointed it out. "There's no parking around here, maybe turn on the cross street."

Klaus kept going down the street and turned left onto Bloomfield Road finding a spot as soon as he turned. After he parked the car, they both got out and walked to the gallery.

"So is this guy looking to just buy something you've already done or is it more of a commission." Henrik walked alongside Klaus.

Klaus shrugged. "I truly don't know, which is why I brought my portfolio. Alaric told me I should create a website with everything that I have currently available and for any possible inquiries. As of right now, people only know of me through word of mouth." Klaus walked up to the door of the gallery and held it open for Henrik to enter. "You can look around while I discuss things with the buyer." He saw a man near the back end and walked over to him. They started discussing his work and Klaus handed him his portfolio.

Henrik, meanwhile, walked around and looked at all the art. Most of the work on display, really did seem to be modern in a sense. Not as much abstract as he was used to, but still amazing none the less. He was fascinated with all the different colors; he was so accustomed to the dark palette Klaus used. There were even a couple of painting that captured his interest much more than he thought they would. He snapped a picture of them and the artists name to look them up later. About 30 minutes after, Klaus walked up next to him and told him he was done.

"He wants to buy one I already have and also hire me for a commission piece; thinks he may even want to show some of my work here, but he needs time for that." Klaus looked at some of Henrik's favorite artwork in the gallery then exited and started back to the car.

"That's awesome! I'm glad things are going so great for you, it seems like each of us is really doing amazing right now. Now all we need is a little bit of love in our lives." Henrik smiled as Klaus rolled his eyes.

"Little brother, you're still young. Don't try to fall in love just yet. Live your life, just not as carelessly as Kol." Klaus grabbed Henrik by the back of the neck playfully once more.

Henrik tried squirming out of Klaus' grasp as he laughed and as they rounded the corner they accidentally bumped into a group. Henrik apologized as Klaus was about to, then tried to help right the girl that had almost tripped over him. Klaus helped straighten a petite brunette with wild curly hair and turned to look at the rest of the group, that's when he saw the brute from the concert and his whole demeanor changed.

The black haired boy looked infuriated and had set his eyes on Henrik as a mark, but Klaus stepped in between them and stopped him in his tracks. Klaus' fists were clenched and his jaw was set in anger as he looked at him and practically dared him to start something by just holding his stance.

Henrik knew something was wrong immediately and tried to intervene. "Nik, it's okay, don't be angry, it was just an accident."

"I may have left you standing last time, but if you try and lay a hand on my brother the way you did me, I promise you, you'll be in a world of pain." He stared down at the wanker who looked like he was itching to fight him. Klaus felt Henrik's hand tugging at his arm and then he heard the familiar angelic voice.

The beautiful blonde was standing to the right of him, trying to tug on the blokes shirt. She was talking to the him, begging him to back off. The two other girls in the group where looking at the guy angrily and shaking their heads. The blonde male that had stopped Klaus the first time, was looking at them as if he wasn't sure if he should get involved once again.

When Klaus looked down at the blonde girl, something in his stance and face must have change, because the next thing he knew, the wanker had become even more infuriated and was about to shove him. Henrik grimaced, as he knew what was about to happen.

Klaus took a step back before the shove connected and instead of pushing the bloke back, Klaus kept his hands up and as the bloke came forward Klaus grabbed his wrists and held onto them as he pushed them a little out, leaving his body open for attack. Klaus punched him in the stomach with his left hand and as the guy keeled over a bit, he pulled on the blokes left tricep with his left hand, forcing the blokes left side to turn into Klaus. At this point, his back was halfway facing Klaus and as he kept his right hand gripping the blokes left wrist up at an angle, he let go of the tricep and swung his arm around the blokes head forcing it into the crook of his elbow; he let go of the wrist and placed his right hand behind the blokes head and moved his whole body back a bit giving him better leverage to place the idiot in a chokehold.

Everything happened so fast that none of them besides Henrik knew what was happening. Klaus kept his hold as the bloke kept flailing and trying to hit Klaus. His face started turning red and the blonde started yelling at him to please stop, but Klaus was in a zone at this point, he wouldn't relent unless the other guy tapped him or was put to sleep.

Henrik tried to get his attention but he knew nothing would stop him. He held the others back, telling them to not worry; he wasn't trying to hurt him, just subdue him.

When the boy finally stopped flailing and felt like he was barely able to keep conscious, he tapped on Klaus's arm and Klaus let go and let him down.

The bloke started breathing fast and held his hand to his throat. The blonde girl kneeled down and then they all looked at Klaus silently in awe. He'd taken him down without a fight.

"Let's go Henrik." Klaus glared at the wanker on the ground and then looked at the blonde in anger, then walked to his car with Henrik on his heels, still apologizing to the lot.

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"That was delicious, such a great choice Care!" Matt felt stuffed as they came out of Molly's and walked down Randolph Ave. "It's a good thing we're going to be walking this all off."

Tyler smirked and the girls laughed. They were all in good mood after the amazing breakfast they'd just had and were on their way to walk down the canal and maybe even go on a gondola ride.

Caroline and Tyler held hands in a blissful state for once, it had been a long time since they'd been so in sync, even Katherine was in a good mood considering Tyler was there. They turned right onto Bloomfied Road and kept on talking. Caroline moved up in front of everyone and kept walking backwards as she held their attention.

"So after Little Venice, I was thinking we should go to the Buckingham Palace and then maybe the London Eye." She held onto Tyler's hand as she looked back every few steps.

Bonnie shook her head. "You are totally going to end up tripping and I for one will laugh my ass off." She snickered at Caroline's glare.

Tyler tried to keep an eye out for her. "I think that sounds like a good plan, babe." He turned for a fraction of a second, but that was all it took for someone to accidentally walk into Caroline, almost tripping her over. The kid was probably only a teenager but seeing him holding onto Caroline as she was about to fall, pissed Tyler off.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry." Caroline held onto the kids forearms. "I was walking backwards and wasn't paying attention." Tyler saw someone else holding Katherine up from the corner of his eye but he immediately went for the kid.

Before he even got near him, the other person stepped in and Tyler grew even more irate. He looked up at the guy and became blinded with rage. It was the same guy that had tried to hit on Caroline. He was glaring down at him, pissing Tyler off even more.

"Nik, it's okay, don't be angry, it was just an accident." The kid tried to intervene but the older guy wasn't listening.

"I may have left you standing last time, but if you try and lay a hand on my brother the way you did me, I promise you, you'll be in a world of pain." The guy said as he looked at him, causing Tyler to want to wipe the floor with him.

Caroline stood next to his left, trying to tug on his shirt. "Ty, stop it! Just back off, it was just an accident!" He saw Matt hesitate in getting involved again then saw when the guy looked at Caroline and registered the recognition. He looked at Caroline like she was the sun and Tyler snapped.

Tyler went to shove the guy but before he even got close, the guy was moving so fast that before he knew it, he was being held in a chokehold. Tyler tried to get out of it, but the guy had a greater leverage so he just kept swinging at air and started feeling all the blood rushing to his face.

"Please stop!" Caroline yelled. Tyler saw her almost crying, but the guy wouldn't let go.

The younger kid held the others back and heard what he said to them. "I'm sorry, please don't worry; he's not trying to hurt him, just subdue him."

Tyler felt himself losing consciousness and gave up fighting, he tapped on the guys arm and felt him let go and let him down. Tyler coughed and started breathing mouthfuls of air as he rubbed his throat. Caroline bent down to him and rubbed his shoulder.

Everyone looked at the guy silently stunned. "Let's go Henrik." The guy glared down at Tyler then looked at Caroline in anger and walked off towards a car with the kid walking behind him.

"I really am sorry." He said as he went around the car and they heard him open and close the door. It sped off, leaving their group still shocked.

Katherine shook her head and scoffed . "Figures our day would be ruined by Tyler."

Tyler looked up at Katherine full of hatred and Caroline pulled back at the look. She hated to admit it, but if Tyler hadn't tried to go after anyone for a silly accident that she felt she had caused; everything would have been okay. "I can't believe you tried to fight him again! It was my fault we bumped into each other and he was just protecting his brother from you.

Tyler shot up, still soothing his red throat. "Are you seriously defending that psycho again! Are you kidding me!" Tyler yelled at her as he towered over her.

"Back off Ty!" Matt held Tyler back, he wasn't about to let him scream at his sister this time.

"The only psycho here is you! You have some serious anger issues." Bonnie informed him.

Tyler shoved Matt's hand away from him. "I can't believe all of you are taking some strangers side instead of mine." He looked at Caroline and clenched his jaw and stormed off.

Caroline closed her eyes and let him go. She took a deep breath and held her head high as she opened them back up. She would not let Tyler ruin this day as well. Katherine grabbed her hand and squeezed it, showing her support. "I think I need a drink."

Katherine smirked. "Now that I can totally agree with."

Bonnie and Matt chuckled. "Why don't we go to the pub that I found yesterday? It was pretty cool and fun. Plus it's not that far from here."

Caroline nodded. "Let's take the underground, I don't want to wait for a cab."

Bonnie looked at her phone and pulled up the tube maps. If they got to the Bakerloo Line at Warwick Ave southbound, they would exit at Edgeware Road. After that, they'd have to walk a couple of blocks to get to Windsor Castle. Bonnie informed them it would only take a few minutes altogether.

Soon enough, they were entering the pub. Matt held the door open as the girls entered. You could tell that it was much more of a locals pub. Fairly quaint but the atmosphere was high spirited. "Oh and I know we just ate but they have some pretty good Thai food here too." Matt sat down and signaled for an ale.

Bonnie laughed. "That's kind of random. But I think I'll try some later. This place is amazing. You can definitely see all the history here." She looked up to inspect some of the pictures on the wall.

"I know, I wonder how long it's been here. I'm gonna see if I can take some pictures." Caroline went to grab her camera but was stopped by Katherine's hand.

"Not before we talk about what happened back there with the idiot. Is that the guy you met at the concert?" Katherine asked her quietly as she quirked an eyebrow.

Caroline's breath hitched. She looked down at her hands and thought about the guy. He was even more handsome in the light. Even though she'd been worried for Tyler in the beginning, she'd been impressed by him. He'd showed how much stronger he was and yet he hadn't truly hurt Tyler. She could also tell he was very protective of his brother. She saw the look he got when he'd recognized her, it was like a beacon in him had turned on and it was pulling her in. But by the end, the look of anger he threw at her had felt like a kick to her heart. She didn't understand why his presence wreaked so much havoc on her emotions.

"Well?" Katherine waited impatiently.

"Yes, that was him." Caroline spoke softly.

Katherine raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "Oh you are in deep, aren't you? I can see it in your stance. How did he get under your skin without even a proper conversation?"

Caroline sighed exasperated and threw her hands up. "I don't know. I think it has more to do with the fact that me and Tyler are having problems, he just seems to be bringing them up to the surface somehow."

Katherine scoffed. "Yeah, whatever you say."

Caroline glared at her and grabbed her camera. "Whatever, I'm gonna take some pictures."

"I'll go with you. Maybe I can start getting used to interviewing people." Bonnie got up and turned on her phone to start her recording app.

Katherine smirked and watched Caroline walk away with Bonnie in tow, then turned to Matt. "Please tell me, you started asking questions about the idiots extra curricular activities?"

Matt looked away from the TV to focus on Katherine. "Yeah, I asked Jesse to ask around. He let me know the girls name, Hayley, and he's seen her with Tyler more than a few times. I'll be talking to him again later today, if not tomorrow."

"I'm going to make that girls life a living hell when we get back." Katherine stated maliciously.

Matt almost pitied the girl, then he remembered she was probably part of the reason his sister was so unhappy currently. He hoped Katherine didn't screw with her too much but she deserved everything she got as well. They both got a shot of whiskey and then just sat enjoying the atmosphere.


	11. Chapter 10

**Um, is anyone still there… just wanna say I AM SOO SORRY! I kinda warned you though lol, I really do go through different creativity moods. If you stuck around, just know, I will keep writing this fic because I hate leaving things unfinished, but I can't guarantee specific dates when it comes to each chapter. It's a struggle to write, I haven't had that much inspiration for it, especially since I've had zero interest in watching TVD much less TO (I never got past like episode 5 or something lol). But, I have been listening to a lot of music that makes me think of my OTP Klaroline. And with TVD ending, it's got me looking at a lot of Tumblr. I really want to finish the next couple of chapters so I can finally get to some Klaroline feels. I will be going into other characters POV as well.**

 **Okay, enough of that, here's the next chapter.**

 **P.S. Y'all should thank Dreamer-Helicar. Your comment helped push me to finally start writing this again. I promise I won't leave you guys hanging so long for the next chapter.**

 **P.P.S. Oh and in this chapter I'm trying to write in present tense much more, let me know if it flows better. It's also a lot smaller than my average chapter length, but I really just wanted to get something out so I could get the ball rolling again.**

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Henrik looks over at Klaus and immediately knows that whatever just went down, there had to be a back story. It was almost like the group and him knew each other. "Nik, who were they?"

Klaus griped the wheel harder, turning his knuckles white. He was breathing hard and fast, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. "That Henrik, was the the little twit that caused this," he says, as he points at his eye.

Henrik's eyes bulge then he furrows his brows in anger. He was never one to truly fight, but to the Mikaelson's, family meant everything; and at that moment he wished he could have helped Klaus take the idiot down.

Klaus turns towards Henrik and smirks. "I know Elijah won't be pleased about what I did when he hears about it, but that felt good."

Henrik laughs. "I won't tell."

Klaus scoffs. "Of course you will, you can't keep anything from Bekah, and we all know how much she loves to tell Elijah."

Henrik looks at him sheepishly. "Well it's not like you actually hurt him, you just defended yourself by putting him down. It was kinda funny. He really wanted to fight and he went down so fast." Henrik laughs some more.

Klaus chuckles and looks back at the road. He had wanted to destroy the idiot but with all those people, including his little brother around, he chose to subdue him instead. And he had to admit that he knew it would make him look good in front of the blonde.

Klaus clenches his jaw, he really wished he could stop thinking about her. The fact that he even cared what she thought of him at that moment, annoyed him. He still didn't even know her name, yet he was acting different for her.

Henrik looks over at him. "I'm actually kind of surprised now. I would have thought you'd destroy the bloke with how angry you'd been. Why did you hold back?"

Klaus glances at him uncomfortably. "You were there. If Elijah found out I'd gotten into it with the bloke, while you stood there; he'd have ripped into me the first chance he had." Klaus shrugs, trying to make himself believe it just as much as he wanted Henrik to.

Henrik narrows his eyes, not believing it for a second. He didn't understand why Klaus would even need to lie. How bad could the true reason be? He didn't want to push it though, he knew Klaus would just close up even more. He turns his head to look out the passenger window as they near their home and changes the subject. "Do you know if Bekah is ready to go?"

Klaus shrugs. "Text her. If she's ready, tell her to come wait in front."

Henrik pulls out his phone and sends Rebekah the text. Within a few seconds she responds, letting them know she'll be outside.

As Klaus turns onto their street he sees Rebekah walking down the house steps. He pulls up to the curb and unlocks the doors so she can climb into the back seat.

Rebekah smiles at them. "So how did it go with the buyer?"

Klaus smirks. "He wants to buy one of the portraits I have and commission a new piece."

Henrik turns around slightly in his seat to look back at Rebekah. "There were so many different styles at the gallery, he told Klaus he may have him come back for a showing there!" He looks over at Klaus.

Rebekah laughs at his enthusiasm. "Well, the gallery isn't that far away, why did it take you so long to get home, did you two go somewhere after?" She looks at Henrik as she asks. He becomes fidgety and try's to avoid looking at Klaus, which makes Rebekah narrow her eyes. "What happened?" She asks Klaus, point blank.

Klaus glares at Henrik and he looks down embarrassed. "I don't want to speak about it."

Rebekah snorts and turns to Henrik lasering her stare at him. Henrik's eyes widen and he shifts uncomfortably. Rebekah raises an eyebrow, she doesn't even need to speak. "Okay! We ran into the bloke that hit Nik! Stop looking at me like that Bekah!"

Rebekah smiles triumphantly and scoots back into her seat. "Was that really so hard to say?" She turns to Klaus. "I hope you did not do anything idiotic, Nik."

Klaus clenches his jaw and looks at her through the rear viewer mirror. "I only did what was necessary. The little twit almost went after Henrik, so I gave him a little taste of what it means to fight fair. But don't worry, I didn't hurt him, only his pride." Klaus smiles and shrugs.

Henrik nods in agreement and turns to Rebekah again. "Nik almost put him to sleep. He only stopped because the bloke gave up and stopped trying to fight, so Nik let go."

Rebekah looks at them both, her eyes wide with anger. "Well, at least your both alright and hopefully you won't run into him again."

Klaus furrows his eyebrows. He hated the idiot, but he would be lying if he didn't admit that deep down he wanted to see the blonde again. "Yes. Let's just forget about them and focus on getting Henrik ready for uni."

Rebekah narrows her eyes at his quick dismissal but decides to let it go. She turns back to Henrik. "Lijah only gave me a small amount for you to spend before he left, you and I will buy the rest when you get to New York." She glances out the window to look at the scenery.

"I thought Elijah had the day off?" Klaus asks as he makes a turn.

"Well, apparently his people can't run the company for a day without panicking." She rolls her eyes and turns toward the front. "His assistant told him, there was someone who insisted on meeting with only Lijah. He's not even a client at this point, and they're already giving into his demands. Lijah was very displeased."

"Of course he would be." Klaus shakes his head. "What store are we heading to first Bekah?"

"I think we should go to Liberty first, we'll see what we find and go from there. Is that okay Henrik?" Rebekah asks Henrik.

Henrik shrugs. "I don't care much, I want to get a new rucksack for my books and laptop, but I don't really know what I need for clothes."

"It'll be fairly warm in New York right now, so you can get some basics. It's only a little bit warmer than here, but winter will be coming soon so you will most definitely need clothes for that. The cold is much more biting over there and their snow storms hit very hard." Rebekah thinks back on her her first snow storm in New York and how she stayed huddled in her apartment for a couple of days not wanting to bother heading out for anything.

Henrik was a big fan of the snow, unlike Rebekah, so he was looking forward to having a winter wonderland scenery. "Maybe we can have a snowy Christmas this year."

Klaus looks over at him and smiles. He wasn't big on holidays himself, but he loved making them as wonderful as could be for Henrik. He wanted him to have the best memories of every holiday, instead of the ones filled with Mikael's rage. All of them, except for Henrik, would never forget those memories. "If that's what you'd like, I'll see about finding something for us in New York, come December."

Klaus pulls into a parking spot and looks over at Rebekah. "Okay, lead the way, we have the rest of the day to shop for Henrik." They get out of the car and head for the entrance.

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The bartender pours more whisky shots for Caroline and her group as they listen to him. "Okay, here's another one. If someone who speaks 2 languages is bilingual, and someone who speaks many languages is multilingual, then what do you call someone who speaks one language." They all look at each other and shrug, waiting for his reply. "An American!"

They scoff at his cheesy joke and the girls start to giggle. They'd been at the pub for a fair amount of time already. Caroline wasn't in the mood to do anything touristy anymore and Matt was content with staying at the pub since it meant he got to watch some games on TV, even if it wasn't American football. Katherine and Bonnie had taken to talking with some of the locals and the old bartender had kept supplying them with more liquor and lame cheesy British jokes about Americans. They were having such a fun time and hadn't missed Tyler for one second.

Of course, that's when Tyler decides to text Caroline. She looks at her phone, huffs, then ignores it. Within a couple of minutes, Tyler calls her instead of trying to text her again. Caroline shakes her head frustrated but grabs her phone and answers the call. She turns in her seat and gets up to walk outside of the bar. "What do you want?" She asks irritated.

Tyler sighs over the phone. "I'm sorry." Caroline rolls her eyes but stays silent. Tyler sighs again. "Where are you? Maybe we can go somewhere, just the 2 of us, so we can talk. I was an dick and I hate having you mad at me."

Caroline shakes her head but relents. "We're at a pub. I wasn't in the mood to do much of anything else."

"Okay, well, if you give me the address, I'll hop in a cab right now to meet you. We can go have dinner?" Tyler asks hopefully.

Caroline sighs closing her eyes. "…Okay. I'm going to tell the others. We're at Windsor Castle, let me know when you're outside."

"Alright babe. I'll be there soon." Tyler hangs up.

Caroline looks at her phone and frowns slightly. This whole vacation was not turning out the way she wanted. She knows her relationship is hanging on by the seams and she just doesn't want to face it. Maybe if she's able to keep the peace, everything will be alright. She lifts her head and grimaces as she heads towards the entrance to the pub. She knows they won't be happy about her leaving with Tyler, especially Katherine, but she has to put in some effort.

As soon as she opens the door she sees Katherine looking at her, eyes narrowed. "That was the ass hat, wasn't it?"

Caroline looks at her angrily. "Don't start Kat. But yes, he called to apologize and asked if we could go have dinner, just us; so you don't have to worry about tolerating his presence." She snaps and slips her phone into her purse.

Katherine scoffs angrily and looks away. "Whatever."

Caroline ignores her and makes sure her camera is tucked in its place and turns towards Matt. "I'm not sure when we'll get back to the suite, I don't really know if that's all he has planned. But I'll keep you posted."

Matt nods his head and gives her a tight smile. "We probably won't leave here for a while, but if we do I'll let you know; in case you want to meet up again."

Caroline nods and hears her phone ping. "Okay that's Tyler, he's outside."

Katherine keeps looking at the TV. "Bye." She states coldly.

Caroline frowns and shakes her head then looks over at Bonnie who shrugs. "Bye, I'll see you later."

Bonnie smiles and hops of the stool. She grabs Caroline and hugs her. "We're here if you need us. She's just being a brat." Caroline takes a deep breath and nods, then turns and walks out the door.

Bonnie turns back around and smacks Katherine. "Stop acting bitchy about Tyler."

"Ow." Katherine scowls at Bonnie as she rubs her arm. "Why?"

"If anything goes wrong with Tyler, she won't want to come to us, not if you're acting like that." Bonnie crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow.

Katherine sighs. "Fine. I'll try to reign it in. I just really hate him."

Bonnie scoffs. "Yeah, you've made that pretty clear."

Katherine smirks and shrugs. "So are we really staying hear all day?" She turns to Matt, who's practically glued to the TV.

Matt doesn't even look at her when says, "um, can we stay just a bit longer?", not really waiting for an answer.

Bonnie chuckles. "Let's just stay here, then we can head back to the suite, if there isn't anything else you want to do."

"I don't really care, Care's the planner." Katherine takes a sip of the beer she ordered. "How are things with you and lover boy?"

Bonnie blushes. "So now that Care is gone, you're going to ask about my relationship?"

Katherine shrugs and smiles innocently. "What can I say, I'm living vicariously through you two, since I don't have a boy right now." She laughs at Bonnie's expression.

Bonnie shakes her head. "We're okay, I guess. We haven't really been together that long, so we're still getting to know each other." Bonnie smiles. "He's called me every day since we've been here."

"That's good, shows he cares, he's taking the time to stay connected." Katherine replies happily. She's never been good at relationships, but she's glad Bonnie has someone. She's always thought Bonnie deserved to have someone who just wanted to be there for her.

"Yeah, well I don't want to make a big deal about it. We haven't been together that long." Bonnie glances at Katherine, "What about you? Are you still "too busy" for a relationship."

Katherine rolls her eyes. "I don't think I'll ever be in a real relationship the way you and Care are, I just don't think I'm built for them. I don't like the idea of being attached to just one person for the rest of my life. I like my freedom, thank you very much."

"That's only because you've never been in love. One day, you'll find the right guy and you won't know what hit you." Bonnie states it so matter of factly, that Katherine almost wishes she could believe it.

"We'll see. Right now, I'm still single and still ready to mingle. I can screw whoever I want to." Katherine smirks.

Matt clears his throat and looks down at them. "You know, just because I'm watching the game, it doesn't mean I can't hear you. And I really don't wanna hear about you screwing guys."

Bonnie and Katherine look at each other and burst out laughing.

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Elijah walks into the pub and pulls out his phone. He looks at the message to confirm that this was the time and place Mr. Martin had asked to meet. He looks around but doesn't see him, so he walks towards the bartender and signals for his attention.

"What can I get you mate?" The bartender swings a rag over his shoulder.

"I'll have a bourbon on the rocks, the best available." Elijah sits down at the counter and looks at his phone again. It was already 5 minutes past the intended meet time. He sends a text to his assistant asking if Mr. Martin had confirmed the meeting.

The bartender sets the glass of bourbon in front of Elijah and he immediately takes a sip. He's starting to become annoyed now; he'd come here because Mr. Martin had insisted on meeting with him and only him, to discuss some potential business, even though Elijah had taken the day off.

His phone vibrates and he reads the incoming text. His assistant tells him that she was unable to reach Mr. Martin and would inform him if she heard back from him soon. Elijah pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs; he did not want to go back home.

Elijah was not in the mood to confront anyone and he was trying really hard not to overreact about what Rebekah had texted him. He knew that Klaus was probably unaware that Rebekah had already informed him that he'd had another altercation with the young man that had hit him. She had not told him to upset him, but because it was a habit of all of his siblings, except for Klaus. They all kept him informed, so he could keep things in order.

He was glad, however, that his younger brother had done the most prudent thing and just subdued the boy instead of hurting him, which he knew was always possible. It pleased Elijah that Klaus was able to make the smart choice and not just the easy one.

Though Klaus' art had become one of his only means of escape. After they'd left Mikael and Esther behind, Klaus had taken to learning some defense and quickly got into boxing. He hadn't wanted to feel helpless ever again, and he wanted to be able to protect them all. He usually used art as his release for his emotions, boxing was just his way of getting rid of some steam. But he was very good at it, so the boy was very lucky, Klaus could have caused some serious damage.

Elijah finishes his drink and signals for another. He looks around at his fellow patrons as his glass is refilled. He didn't usually go to pubs, he had his own decanters of some of the best drinks in his office or home. He heard a group of people at the end of the bar, laughing at something. He turns back around to swirl his drink and takes another sip, becoming lost in his thoughts.

Henrik and Rebekah would be leaving for New York soon and Kol would be off god knows where in another week or so. His siblings lives would be changing once again and it was making him think about the future. He'd had to grow up so fast and become a parent to them, while he was still trying to navigate his own life. He'd made the decision to put it on hold for a bit, never truly had the chance to breath and just be selfish for once. Now, it would only be him and Klaus in the big house and he was finally thinking about finding someone to share his life with, to find the missing piece that would make him whole.

Unlike Klaus, he did believe in love, but he'd never given himself the chance to find it. He'd promised himself that he would put his family first, above everything. He wanted them to heal from the broken past that they'd had to live.

As he sits there thinking, someone bumps into him as they call for the bartenders attention. He turns, about to reprimand the person for not even apologizing, but his voice fades and his breath catches as he sees the beautiful woman to his right.

She smiles at the bartender and asks to use the restroom and then looks over at Elijah. Her eyes widen slightly and she freezes for a second, gulping as she holds onto the key that the bartender handed to her for the restroom door. They both hear someone call out to her and she stares at him for few seconds more, her breathing increasing, then bolts towards her friend and the shelter of the restroom.

Elijah stays there, looking at her retreating form, processing what just happened. Trying to make sense of why his pulse had skyrocketed. For some reason this stunning woman had made him come alive in the mere seconds of being in her presence, and he hadn't even spoken to her yet, she'd actually left him speechless.

Elijah shakes himself out of his stunned state and straightens his suit out. He didn't want to look anything but pristine for when he introduced himself. He would ask for her name and find out everything he could about her. She was gorgeous; had lusciously long dark curls and a petite frame that was athletic, with curves in just the right places. He would not let her go.

Elijah feels his phone vibrate and he looks at it; it was his office. Of course they would be calling at one of the least opportune moments. He sighs and answers. "Yes?" He questions bitingly, which startles his assistant.

"I'm very sorry Mr. Mikaelson…" She's cut off by Elijah.

Elijah sighs "No, I apologize. What is it Jules?"

"I wanted to inform you that Mr. Martin finally returned our call. Apparently he was held back and can no longer meet, he asked if it would be possible to reschedule."

Elijah lifts an eyebrow, annoyed at the mans audacity. He sees a flash of curly hair from his peripheral vision and finds that the woman is looking at him from the corner of her eye as she and her friend head back to their stools. Elijah takes a quick breath and stands. "Let Mr. Martin know that he can book an appointment with any of our publicists, I will unfortunately be unavailable for an unforeseen time. I will not be taking anymore calls today Jules, thank you." He hears her acknowledgement and hangs up.

Elijah downs his drink and smooths out the front of his suit again and turns to walk over to woman, who is now looking at him with a wide expression. As he nears her small group, she turns slightly towards him and her friend smiles and turns away pulling a male companion with her.

Their eyes lock and Elijah is at a loss for words again. "Hello." She speaks, her voice so faint almost shyly, so unlike her overall demeanor.

He smiles and grabs her hand lightly to place a kiss on it. "Good evening, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Elijah."

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Caroline pokes at her food. Tyler hadn't said much beyond saying he was truly sorry, again. She looks over at him and gives him a tight smile. "So how did you hear about this place?"

Tyler shrugs. "Just looked up places to eat around that bar." He keeps eating.

"Oh." Caroline takes a deep breath and tries to eat the chicken she ordered, but it's so bland that she only takes a nibble. "Are we going to go anywhere else after this?"

Tyler looks up at her confused. "Uh, wasn't planning on it."

"Okay. Are we just going to the suite to talk then?" Caroline questions him.

Tyler gives her a blank look, then keeps eating. "We'll go walk around somewhere close to the hotel so we can talk, if that's what you really want."

Caroline frowns, the whole reason she came was because Tyler said they would talk. "Well that's why I left everyone at the pub, you said we could talk."

Tyler clenches his jaw as he's looking down then forces himself to relax and looks up at her. "You're right, we'll go somewhere once we're done. Did you not like the chicken?"

Caroline shakes her head. "Not really."

Tyler nods his head, a little annoyed. "Alright, well I'm done, so I'll get the check." He signals the waiter and then hands over his credit card.

They both sit there, awkwardly quiet until the waiter returns. Tyler signs and then they rise to leave. He holds the door open for Caroline to pass through and they head in the direction of the hotel.

"I'm sorry Care." Tyler says once more.

Caroline is unphased by his words but nods. "You said that already."

Tyler huffs. "Look, you're my girl, in a non possessive way. When I saw you almost fall because of that guy, all I wanted to do was avenge you in a way, I guess. When you didn't have my back, it really upset me."

Caroline looks at him sadly. "I'm sorry, it wasn't that I didn't have your back; but Ty it was my fault, not theirs. I wasn't even looking at where I was going, and you tried to hurt the kid first. His brother had the right to defend him."

Tyler narrows his eyes. "There. That's why I lost it. You're supposed to be on my side, no matter what."

"No Ty, I don't, especially not when you're wrong." She shakes her head. "Hurting a child, is not something I agree with or respect."

Tyler throws up his hands in defeat. "Okay Care, I won't do it again."

Caroline sighs. "Look we still have another 3 nights here, can we please just make the best of it, I do not want to keep fighting with you. I want to have good memories of our first vacation together."

Tyler stops and smiles at her, grabbing onto her hand and pulling her towards him. "Does that mean you still want to go on more vacations with me? Maybe next time, just you and me?"

Caroline shakes her head as she smiles slightly. "We'll see, you're still on probation with this vacation."

Tyler laughs and kisses her. "I love you babe, I promise I'll be on my best behavior for the rest of the trip."

Caroline smiles and wraps her hands around his neck. Why couldn't it always be like this? "I have a few sight seeing things planned for the next couple of days, so play nice with everyone please. I know Kat has been a bit more bitchy lately, but just let it go. I already kind of told her to back of too, so hopefully she'll stop bugging."

"I have no idea what I did for her to act the way she does. I may have talked back but she's been getting even nastier with her comments lately." Tyler clenches his jaw in anger.

Caroline looks down feeling slightly guilty. Katherine was trying to protect her after all the whining she'd been doing. "I'll have another talk with her, don't worry." She smiles and kisses him as he wraps his hands around her back.

They both pull back and Caroline gives him a small smile. "Tomorrow is a new day, we'll have a fresh start."

Caroline was happy that the day was ending on a positive vibe, so she wanted to be optimistic. But in the pit of her stomach, she had a feeling it wouldn't last long. During the past couple of days, something had shifted in her, in her relationship with Tyler and she wasn't sure if it could be repaired. She would try her best to fix things, but she wasn't going to force herself to stay in the relationship if it really was coming to an end.


End file.
